60 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. c January 19, im*. 
and should be placed at the warmest part of the house previous to 
potting. Dendrobiums showing flowers must have moderate moisture 
at the roots, and require an increase of heat to encourage the flowers. 
Do not excite any at rest, but the plants must not be allowed to 
shrivel, similar remarks applying to Cattleyas and most Mexican 
Orchids. Odontoglossums and Oncidiums are coming into flower 
and must be well attended to with water, also those that are growing. 
Cypripediums require plentiful supplies of water. The terrestrial 
Calanthes need plenty of water as often as the soil becomes dry, 
weak liquid manure assisting the plants to produce strong flower- 
spikes. As at this season of the year very few plants are in active 
growth, advantage should be taken to give a thorough cleaning. 
Nicotine soap at a strength of 6 ozs. to the gallon of water, at a tem¬ 
perature of 90° to 100°, applied with a sponge or brush, is a capital 
remedy for either white or brown scale. Keep the glass clean, as the 
clearer the glass the brighter will be the flowers. The temperature 
for the East India house must be 60° by night and 70° by day ; the 
Mexican house 55° at night and G0° by day ; and the Odontoglossum 
house 48° by night and 55° by day. 
Greenhouse .—All softwooded plants need a position near the glass, 
especially such as Cyclamens, Cinerarias, Calceolarias, Pelargoniums, 
and Primulas, and where hardwooded plants must be grown in the 
same house they should be placed at one end where they can be kept 
cool by free ventilation. This will not afford so pleasing an effect, 
but the results in growth will be more satisfactory. Pelargoniums 
that were placed in small pots in autumn must without further delay 
be transferred to a larger size. Unless the plants are large, pots 
6 or 7 inches in diameter are the most generally useful, and for any 
purpose those 8 inches in diameter are quite large enough. Good 
loam with a fifth of decayed manure is a suitable compost. Pot 
firmly and keep the soil drier than for most other softwooded plants* 
Some of the varieties flower freely in a temperature of 50°, and for 
this purpose Duchess of Bedford and Bridal Bouquet are useful for 
bouquets. It is essential that they be well established and not in 
very large pots. 
Fuchsias that are stowed away under plant stages and similar 
places must not be allowed to become too dry, or they will not start 
freely when needed. Liliums in similar positions are liable to be 
neglected in watering, and that is fatal to the roots, which are always 
more or less active and need the soil kept moist. Any that were not 
potted as soon as the stems died should now have the whole of the 
soil above the bulbs removed so far as can be done without injuring 
the roots, supplying good fresh loam to which has been added a 
small proportion of well-decomposed manure, giving just sufficient 
water to keep the soil moist. Pot any late plants of Cinerarias, also 
Calceolarias requiring a shift, affording liquid manure to Cinerarias 
producing their flowers, and if the plants are in small pots it may be 
given every time the plants are watered. Cyclamens are amongst 
the most useful of winter-flowering plants, but to grow them well an 
intermediate temperature is most suitable, keeping them near the 
glass, supplying liquid manure, and keeping them free from aphides. 
The flowers in a temperature above that of an ordinary greenhouse 
are larger and more freely produced. Kalosanthes are very useful 
and are easy to grow, not being subject to insect attacks except by 
aphides, which are easily destroyed by fumigation. To insure good 
blooms the plants must have a light position and sufficient water at 
the roots to keep them steadily growing. Primulas do not always 
have the trusses of bloom raised enough above the foliage to render 
them effective, which is due to their being kept in too low a tem¬ 
perature, 50° being necessary. 
' A. 
~ i~ i ■ 1 -» r* i . i » i . i i . i. i . i . i . i * T* r* i • i « i «i. i, |. i. i. i. i 
HE BEE-KEEPER. I 
- -—- 1 - r 1 —H v , 
BEES IN TROUBLE. 
My bees have been made acquainted with the kind and gene¬ 
rous advice given in last week’s Journal by Mr. Cheshire on their 
behalf, inasmuch as the barleysugar recommended has been sup¬ 
plied and freely accepted, comfort and contentment being thereby 
secured for the present, as evidenced by the hum of thankfulness. 
Though their thanks have been tendered to me privately in their 
own language, I have no doubt that, could they speak ours, Mr. 
Cheshire would have received a gracious message from each sove¬ 
reign, thanking him for being the means of saving the lives of 
their illustrious selves and subjects, and wishing to confer the 
highest honours possible in the power of beedom. As their repre¬ 
sentative allow me to thank him, and to say that all his instruc¬ 
tions for later on in the interests of their majesties and their 
subjects will be carefully and gratefully followed, as will also 
the valuable information on the subject given from time to time 
in “ our Journal.”—E. T. 
QUEEN CAGES FOR POST. 
I shall use a sponge filled with honey instead of sugar candy. 
Experimenting with candy last year cost me the loss of many 
queens. I do not lose one queen in fifty with sponge and honey. 
Now I will explain about the cage. It is made five-eighths of an 
inch wide, so as to give more space of sponge to the bees, thus 
making the food hold out longer. In shipping, the tin might 
press in, but as I make them the tin is on solid against the wood 
on all sides, and cannot press in. 
In shipping two, four, six, or more queens at one time, I will 
place the wire face to face, but reversing the sponges, so that the 
bees in one cage can feed from the sponge in the other. In 
shipping three queens, I will make tin an inch shorter, and cover 
Fig. 12. 
the sponge with wire cloth, and then the bees in all three cages 
can draw food from their neighbours. Bees in such cages will 
live from two to three weeks. I think the pressure of the wire 
will hold the sponge in place ; if not, drive a sharp nail through 
the side into it. Half a dozen bees to a cage will be all the 
company a queen will want. 
I put bees in the cage, keep up the corner of the wire not nailed 
down, and raise it with the index finger. The spring of the wire 
will keep it down. I have done this all my days. 
I can bore the holes in them with power, and can do it much 
quicker than I can nail them up. Then, again, the cages now 
used are much stronger and neater. I have put a few bees in 
them, and covered the tin with paper to keep the bees away from 
the cold tin.— Henry Alley (in the American Bee Journal ). 
OLD COMB HONEY CANDIED. 
Inquiries are often made as to what to do with old comb 
honey that has granulated. Mrs. L. Harrison, in the Prairie 
Farmer, some time ago gave the following plan :— 
“ When the honey is marketed all unsightly and unfilled combs 
are removed, and we find much of it granulated, so that extracting 
is out of the question. A bee-keeper once told the writer that she 
put all such comb honey into a pan and melted them in the oven, 
and that when it was cooled the wax would be in a solid cake on 
the surface, when it could be removed and the clear honey would 
be underneath. We tried this plan, but the honey was injured 
by being heated too much. We then tried this way, and succeeded 
much better : The honey was mashed up in a pan, and set over a 
kettle of boiling water and stirred frequently. Before the honey 
was very hot the wax had risen to the surface, and, being set out 
in the cold, quickly congealed, so that the warm honey could be 
poured from under it through a coffee strainer into another 
vessel, leaving the wax in the pan. After the honey was melted 
the wax was all melted up together, and considerable honey of 
inferior quality was under it, which can be kept separate, and be 
used for cooking, making gingerbread, &c. The rinsings of 
vessels used in manipulating the honey will make excellent 
vinegar. The wax can be melted in a pan over boiling water, and 
should be poured, when melted, through a hot coffee strainer, 
and when cool will be of a light straw colour.” 
British Bee-Keepers’ Association. —The annual general meeting 
of the members of this Association will be held on Wednesday, Feb¬ 
ruary 15th, under the presidency of the Baroness Burdett-Coutts. 
Members desirous of bringing forward any motion for discussion at 
this meeting are requested to give notice of the same to the Assistant 
