April 21, 1881. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
321 
longer to continue. Bee-keepers who take an interest in this bee 
have now a fair prospect of obtaining reliable information con¬ 
cerning it, and may perhaps be able to see a few specimens, or 
even obtain a colony of these bees at some future time should it 
be considered worth while to introduce them into Germany. 
Not long ago Professor Dr. Zadach of Koningsberg, in Prussia, 
made it known to the Natural History Society of Brunswick that 
a young savant, Dr. Grabowsky, was going to pay a visit to Borneo 
for the purpose of collecting insects, plants, &c. It occurred to 
me that this would be a favourable opportunity of getting some 
information about Apis dorsata, which has its home in Borneo ; 
I therefore wrote at once to Professor Zadach, requesting him to 
induce Dr. Grabowsky to look for Apis dorsata in Borneo, to 
observe it carefully, and furnish me with particulars in due course. 
In writing to Dr. Zadach I did not omit to state precisely the 
points on which I wished to be informed more particularly. I 
received a reply by return of post, in which he informed me that 
it would give him very great pleasure to comply with my wishes. 
We must now see what comes of it. 
We may perhaps be able at a still earlier date to obtain some 
exact information on Apis dorsata. I received the other day a 
letter from Mr. Frank Benton of Larnaca, in the Island of Cyprus, 
in which he informed me of his intention to hunt up Apis dorsata. 
The following is a translation of part of his letter :—■ 
“Larnaca, Island of Cyprus, 
“ Dec. 7th, 1880. 
“ Since I last wrote to you my health has improved considerably, 
and I am well enough now to undertake another voyage in the in¬ 
terests of bee-keepers. My plan is the following :—Leaving here by 
the Austrian Lloyd steamer on the 21st inst., I shall first pay 
a visit to Beyrout and Jaffa, and remain there for a short time. 
From Jaffa I shall go to Port Said and then to Suez, Aden, 
Bombay, Colombo (Ceylon), Singapore, and Batavia (Island of Java) 
perhaps also to Timor, Flores, and the Island of Celebes, and if 
possible and convenient to me also to the Philippine Islands and 
Borneo. I intend to take with me twenty-five to thirty colonies of 
Cyprian bees as well as some Syrian bees, and to bring back with me 
fifty to one hundred queen bees accompanied by some worker bees. 
The queens which I intend to take home with me to the Island of 
Cyprus are to be of the very best races obtainable, such as Apis dor¬ 
sata, Apis zonata— i.e., if I become convinced of the good qualities 
and value of these bees. I shall further endeavour as far as possible to 
collect seed of the various melliferous plants which may appear valu¬ 
able to me, and which are not to be found in my native country. 
My plan is not an unpremeditated one, but has been discussed for a 
long time, and the time has now arrived to carry it out. The bees 
which I shall be able to obtain will be under my own personal care, 
and I hope to reach home safely with a good many queens. My 
boxes for transporting them are large, and so arranged that I can let 
the bees have little or plenty of air according to their requirements. 
The food consists of sealed honey in old combs, and sugar cake and 
water. In most cases I intend to feed the bees in both at the same 
time, and to give them sealed honey as well as sugar and water in one 
and the same box. I shall not stay longer in the East Indies than will 
be necessary for my purpose, and I hope to be back in April or even 
before. The honey harvest in Cyprus has been worse than any I can 
remember in the whole of my experience. The bee-keepers of this 
Island express themselves similarly. Since May the bees have liter¬ 
ally collected nothing. The natives lost nearly four-fifths of their 
bees by starvation, moths, and hornets. The latter have done a great 
deal of damage during the long and hot summer which we had here.” 
Thus writes my friend Mr. Benton. I shall not fail to report 
the result of his endeavours concerning the Apis dorsata on a 
future occasion.— C. J. H. Gravenhorst. 
Footnote in the “ Bienenzeitung ."—The Editors have been in¬ 
formed by Mr. Frank Benton of his intended visit to India, and 
they purpose to write to Mr. Benton to Batavia (Island of Java) 
respecting Apis dorsata. Mr. Vogel received some very special 
information about this species of bees direct from India a few 
years ago, and in his opinion the introduction of the species (not 
race) would be of great scientific interest, as its hybrid offspring 
especially would afford bee-keepers some very valuable informa¬ 
tion. To acclimatise this bee in Germany will be impossible, as 
coming from the tropics it will not be able to live through our 
northern winter. This was our experience with Apis fasciata, 
which dies in the hive when the temperature of the air outside 
shows from 3° to 5° It. frost, though the walls of the hive may be 
both thick and warm. Nevertheless, in the interest of science 
we recommend the importation of Apis dorsata, and Mr. Vogel 
will announce in due course how to make it safely and without 
difficulty live through the winter. 
There can be no question of any practical importance attending 
the introduction of Apis dorsata into Germany, but it might be 
possible to acclimatise it in the southern States of the United 
States of North America. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Ewing & Co, Eaton, near Norwich.— List of Neic Roses for 1881. 
Thomas Painter, Smallwood, near Scholar Green, Stoke-on-Trent,— 
Catalogue of Dahlias. 
Freres Simon Louis, Metz.— List of Miscellaneous Plants. 
*** 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. 
Wiring a Cucumber House (IF. IF).—A foot from tlie glass is a good 
and safe distance for the wires, but if the house is very low 2 or 3 inches less 
will do very well. Nine inches apart is suitable for stretching the wires. 
Evergreen Wall Plant (T . IF. (}.). —The low wall is, we presume, on the 
outside of the conservatory ; and as you require “ a small-foliaged evergreen that 
grows closely and not too quickly,” we think Cotoneaster microphylla will be as 
suitable as any. 
Hellebore Tea ( Idem ).—Two ounces of powder is sufficient for a gallon of 
water. A correspondent who has used it effectively finds it the best to first 
mix the powder with hot water to the consistency of cream, adding the cold 
water afterwards. 
Asparagus Small (L. I. K.). —Without having fuller particulars than 
can be conveyed on a postcard we cannot satisfactorily answer j'our question; 
besides, we are quite unable to decipher the words relative to the dressing you 
have applied. The nature of the soil may be unsuitable, or the heads may have 
been cut too long and closely. Unless you have good growth in the summer you 
cannot expect to have fine heads in the spring. You will perhaps, however, 
have finer heads as the season advances. Are the beds very full of plants ? 
Overcrowding results in small produce. 
Strawberries not Swelling ( Old Subscriber). —The plant you have sent 
is well grown and healthy, and the roots have not received any injury by liquid 
manure. We attribute the condition of the fruit to defective fertilisation. In 
all probability the flowers opened when the weather was dull and ungenial, and 
the pollen was not liberated. Had you drawn your hand gently along the 
trusses at midday the fruit in all probability would have set and swelled much 
more freely. Every berry on the plant you have sent is more or less malformed, 
which is conclusive evidence of imperfect fertilisation. 
The “ Musk Tree ” (K.). —The plant which you state is known under the 
above name is Aster argophyllus, a member of the natural order Composite. It 
is a native of Van Diemens Land, whence it was obtained by Messrs. Lee and 
Kennedy at the beginning of the present century, and in a wild state it acquires 
the dimensions of a small tree. It is well worth cultivating in a greenhouse, as 
the leaves are very ornamental owing to the silvery whiteness of the under sur¬ 
face, and their musky perfume is also very pleasant. Ordinary loamy compost 
suits it very well. Specimens are occasionally seen in a collection of old plants, 
but it is comparatively rare. 
Heating Greenhouse (/. E. Osborne). —Your house would be best heated 
by a stove boiler, which could be readily placed in a small shed as you propose at 
the back of the greenhouse, and would be, like your house, a tenant fixture. All 
that will be necessary would be to isolate the smoke flue from the woodwork by 
sheet iron or some other non-combustible material, and exercise the usual pre¬ 
cautions in stoking against accident from fire. Have the boiler as near to the 
greenhouse as possible, and employ 4-inch preferably to 3-inch pipes, the former 
affording a more regular temperature. Thirty-six feet of 4-inch piping, or a flow 
and return along the front of the house and one end if a lean-to, or if a span 
along the sides of the house and one end, will give you all the heat necessary in 
the severest weather. 
Rooted Cuttings (Kiltie). —If you ordered rooted cuttings you had a 
right to receive them, and if cuttings were sent just as taken from the plants a 
less price ought to have been charged for them. The cuttings you sent were 
admirably packed, and arrived in a perfectly fresh state. Some of them are 
small, yet they are sturdy, and much better than if they were taller by being 
drawn up in heat. We have not the slightest doubt that we could strike every 
one of them, and produce fine flowering plants. It would be a mistake if the 
vendor made the cuttings ready for insertion. In the first place, the cut ends 
might be injured during transit; and in the next, he might be blamed if they 
failed to grow. Such cuttings as those'you have sent should be inserted imme¬ 
diately they are cut close under a joint, and they would not have been better if 
they had been prepared by the vendor. 
Hibiscus sinensis Culture (Idem). —This plant can readily be pro¬ 
pagated when the wood is young or half ripened if the young shoots are 
selected and inserted in sandy soil round the sides of a 5-inch pot. The pot 
containing the cuttings should be placed in heat and shaded from the sun If 
a bellglass can be placed over the cuttings they will strike the more quickly. 
When rooted, pot the young in 3-inch pots and again place them in heat, and as 
soon as they commence growing the points of the young shoots should be taken 
out to cause them to branch. Potting should be done from time to time as the 
plants require it, affording good drainage, and pressing the soil moderately firm. 
The size of pots in which they are to bloom entirely depends upon circumstances. 
If a good specimen is wanted, stopping must be done as occasion requires, and 
