448 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June 2, 1881. 
returned to feed and warm their young. The next morning the 
mat was lifted with as little disturbance as possible. The insects 
were discovered closely clustered, putting their plundered house 
in order. The hive to receive them stood against the wall 
just under their old entrance. Frame after frame was lifted 
down, the queen in due course making her descent with the rest. 
The few bees that took wing soon learnt the position of their 
comrades, and the colony was established in its new quarters with 
but very little loss, and yielded its owner a fine super at the close 
of the summer. The main point of interest rests in the manner 
of capturing the queen by restoring for a time the combs, to 
which she will infallibly return, when their second removal is too 
rapidly and quietly accomplished to give her an opportunity of 
eluding us. 
But to our second case. The three or four colonies in the roof 
of Much Hadam Church, the descendants doubtless of one, had 
behaved so badly that further forbearance was impossible. A 
swarm was sent out on the morning of a confirmation, and, 
audaciously entering the church window, clustered on an orna¬ 
ment not far from the pulpit, and one reckless bee from this 
cluster committed the sad indiscretion of stinging a bishop. This 
sealed their doom, and not long after ladders were raised, and your 
humble servant was peering down between the slates as the saucy 
insects were travelling in and out through four or five openings. 
The master builder in attendance came to give directions, but a 
gust of wind, common at such altitudes, nearly carried away his 
hat. His rapid movements in preventing this catastrophe pro¬ 
duced a worse, for five or six bees, which regarded this quickness 
as a menace, took aim at his uncovered scalp and caused him to 
retire discomfited. A practical breach was soon made, and then 
pailful after pailful of honeycomb, which at length fairly filled a 
large saucer bath, was the first instalment of the booty. The 
brood combs followed ; but as before, the bees retired and had to 
be gained by the expedient previously explained. While the 
queen and retinue were returning to their old quarters, so as to make 
their final dislodgment easy, the extractor was set to work upon 
the comb honey, and soon 60 lbs. of splendid honey was freed from 
wax and pollen. After the final removal of the bees the following 
morning, the hollow in which this colony had existed for several 
years was, by my order, filled with coke previously saturated in 
carbolic acid. This last substance emits an odour so disgusting 
to the genus Apis, that no fresh swarm is likely to choose this 
spot as a dwelling place. The other families, now the way had 
been shown, fared no better than the others, and a volunteer clad 
in armour for the occasion at a point where more climbing ability 
than 1 possessed was required, attacked, defeated, and captured a 
colony without receiving damage, while his clothing grew so sweet 
and sticky that now a few of the enemy became attached to him. 
—Frank E. Cheshire, Avenve House, Acton, W. 
QUEEN REARING FROM NUCLEI. 
According to instructions in your calendar for May, on the 
14th inst. I took two combs out of my best stock containing eggs 
and larvte, and put them into a snug hive on a new stand. I put 
two other combs with honey and hatching bees, and shook more 
bees as well to keep thoroughly warm. In two days I looked in, 
but no queen cells were begun. In two more days (17th my 
diary says) nucleus all right, but no queen cells begun. Thinking 
the eggs were too old, I gave another frame of very small eggs on 
the 19th, still no queen cells. I then gave a comb with one queen 
cell from another hive, which I did not want to swarm. On the 
20th I found two small queen cells begun on the comb given on 
the 17th. On the 25th I put in two large queen cells from a third 
hive. These I have not since examined ; but, to make a long 
story short, I cannot make out why this nucleus did not do as 
yours do, and build queen cells right off.—W. P. Edwards. 
[You have misunderstood our instructions. We do not make 
nuclei in order that the bees in the nuclei may raise our queen 
cells, but in order that they may receive and hatch queen cells 
built in a strong stock in some way made queenless. Our words 
are these, “ We select our best colony, the bees of which present 
the characteristics we most value, and remove its queen in some 
manner that does not seriously thin the population, in order that 
it may produce a number of highly nourished young queens.” 
We then fully explain how the nuclei may be made “ the day 
before the queen cells are ready for excision.” The nucleus in your 
case acted naturally enough, for it required time to ascertain its 
orphan condition, but no doubt the queen cells were already in 
progress before you noticed them. Had the little lot of bees 
possessed newly laid eggs at the time you separated them from 
the main body they might have delayed moving in the matter of 
queen-rearing to the seventh day at least, and yet have produced 
from their youngest grubs fairly good queens. It is the habit of 
weak lots to delay in this matter, and to produce but very few 
royal cells. The stock referred to in the calendar furnished us 
with twenty at least, and some of the queens raised therefrom 
mated in the bright sunshine of Saturday last. The smallness of 
the queen cells referred to might have been actual, although 
queen cells do not show their size until sealed. The best queens 
are undoubtedly raised amidst a thronging host of workers, and 
not amongst the starvelings of a nucleus, although there may be 
abundantly sufficient to brood the sealed cell and give a home to 
the young queen until a more worthy throne is vacant to receive 
her.] 
British Bee-keepers’ Association. —Some time ago it was 
stated in the newspapers that there would be an exhibition of 
bees, &c., in connection with the Royal Show at Derby in July 
next. Will you kindly inform me through the Journal, 1, Has 
any prize list for bees yet been issued, and if so where can I 
obtain one ? 2, What date the entries close for honey, &c. ? If 
they wish, as they state, all concerned to compete, why is it not 
better advertised ?—C. Z. H. 
[We have received a prize list of the Show to be held at South 
Kensington, but not of the Derby Exhibition. We are unable to 
answer your other questions. The Assistant Secretary, Mr. J. 
Huckle, King’s Langley, will no doubt supply the information if 
you write to him.] 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
George Gummow, Loughborough Road, Brixton .—Catalogue of 
Bedding Plants. 
James Carter & Co., 237, High Holborn, London, and Forest Hill, 
Sydenham .—Catalogue of Neiv and Choice Plants. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS 
*** All correspondence should be directed either to “ The Editor ” 
or to “ The Publisher.” Letters addressed to Dr. Hogg or 
members of the staff often remain unopened unavoidably. We 
request that no one will write privately to any of our correspon¬ 
dents, as doing so subjects them to unjustifiable trouble and 
expense. 
Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions relat¬ 
ing to Gardening and those on Poultry and Bee subjects, and 
should never send more than two or three questions at once. All 
articles intended for insertion should be written on one side of 
the paper only. We cannot reply to questions through the post, 
and we do not undertake to return rejected communications. 
Books (R. J. J .).—Some works on bulb culture have been written by Mr. 
D. T. Fish, which would probably suit you. You can obtain particulars as to 
price, &c., either from the author at Hardwicke Hall, Bury St. Edmunds, or the 
publisher, 170, Strand, London. Your second question is too indefinite. Some 
books are very costly, others very cheap ; some refer to stove plants, Orchids, 
&c., others to hardy flowers. If you will state your wants more fully and clearly 
we will endeavour to aid you. 
Intermediate Stock (G. Mitcham ).—The plant you have sent represents 
a very good variety, being dwarf and sturdy in habit with large double flowers 
of rich colour. Although we have seen Stocks quite equal to it, and occasion¬ 
ally deeper in colour, yet you are quite justified in endeavouring to keep 
the strain distinct, as it is superior to the ordinaiy forms of Stocks that we 
often see flowering at this season of the year. Your Solomon’s Seal is noticed 
on another page. 
Rocambole (Gardener ),—Allium Scorodoprasum is the Rocambole of the 
botanists, and the plant is a native of Denmark, but now naturalised in this 
country. The Tree Onion, Album Cepa bulbiferum, is commonly known as the 
Rocambole of gardens ; the bulbs grow in a cluster on the top of the stems, and 
are used the same as Shallots. The Potato Onion is Allium Cepa aggregatum, 
the bulbs forming in clusters partly in the ground and partly above it. We 
have grown both the Tree and Potato Onion, the culture being the same a3 
required by Shallots and Garlic. 
Zonal Pelargonium (J. W. i /.).—Every petal had fallen from the truss 
of the Zonal Pelargonium, as they usually do when the flowers are not gummed. 
Varieties of florists’ flowers are far too numerous and too nearly alike to permit 
us to undertake the naming of examples that are submitted to us ; still we 
readily give the names of any flowers that we can recognise. From what you say 
of your variety we do not think it improbable that it is an unnamed seedling. 
Insects on Peach Tree (AIpha ).—The variety you name is not more 
liable to be attacked with insects than other Peaches and Nectarines are. 
Your trees and wall require a thorough cleansing during the winter, and then 
timely measures should be taken for preventing the insects appearing in the 
spring. When once they are established they are difficult to destroy. Nicotine 
