March 23, 1882.] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
as the plants when grown in heat do not produce sturdy and well- 
developed growth. A gentle bottom heat is essential to speedy ger¬ 
mination of the seeds and the steady progressive growth of the plants, 
hence attention must be given at once to the preparation of the bed, a 
mixture of three parts tree leaves and one part fermenting dung 
affording a milder and more suitable heat than manure alone. Ten- 
week Stocks, Asters, Phlox Drummondi, Scabious, Marigolds, Arc., 
cannot be grown too sturdily. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Orchids .—Calanthe vestita must be shaken out of the old soil, 
cutting off the dead roots, and repotting the pseudo-bulbs in a compost 
of three parts turfy peat to one of turfy loam and old cowdung, with 
a sprinkling of crocks, a little charcoal and sand. Drain the pots 
2 or 3 inches deep according to their size, place a layer of sphagnum 
over the drainage, and then fill to within an inch of the rim with the 
compost, on which place the pseudo-bulbs, working in some of the 
soil between them. As soon ns they are growing supply water freelyi 
the soil never being allowed to become dry until the growth is com¬ 
pleted. C. Veitchii and C. Turneri require the same treatment. Re¬ 
pot Anguloas in good fibrous peat, half filling the pots with pot¬ 
sherds, then a layer of sphagnum, filling with peat and crocks, 
keeping the pseudo-bulbs a little elevated in the pots. Repot 
Sobralias in peat and turfy loam, some potsherds and a little sand 
well mixed. These and Calanthe masuca and C. veratrifolia should 
have copious supplies of weak tepid liquid manure. Cypripediums 
and Cymbidiums also are improved by a little weak liquid manure if 
the pots are full of roots. Odontoglossum naevium and O. Phalm- 
nopsis need to be freely syringed and to have a good supply of water 
at the roots, now being a good time to repot any that require it. 
These should not have a temperature at any time less than 55°. 
Frequently sponging the leaves of Odontoglossums and Masde- 
vallias is needed to keep thrips in check. Moisture must be libe¬ 
rally supplied in the East India house, the evaporation troughs 
being filled with water, some also being poured on the floors and 
benches in the morning and evening, and after a sunny day the 
plants that have commenced their growth may be lightly syringed. 
Plants on blocks now require frequent syringing, and those growing 
may be dipped in tepid water once a week. The water for all 
purposes should be a few degrees warmer than the houses, and 
rain water only should be used. Except on very sunny days but 
little ventilation will be required. The temperature of the East 
India house should be kept at 70° at night and 80° by day, or a few 
degrees more from sun heat; the Mexican house G0° at night and 
70° by day ; the cool house 50° at night and 55° to G0° by day. 
WHAT TEMPERATURE DO BEES REQUIRE DURING 
THEIR TIME OF REST IN WINTER? 
[A Translation from the “ Bienenzeitung .” Communicated by Mr. 
Alfred Neighbour .] 
(Continued from page 224.) 
In the hot climate of Syria, Ethiopia, and Brazil bees do not suffer 
harm from the heat; and while in our own country they keep perfectly 
well in a hot summer and mild autumn, they are supposed to perish 
during a cold winter from excessive heat. Who can comprehend 
these contradictions ? In two cases only is this conceivable. First, 
if the whole atmosphere is heated to such a degree as almost to melt 
the wax, causing the combs to break, which is reported to be the case 
in the neighbouihood of Aden in the Red Sea ; and second, if a large 
colony get excited while the entrance is closed. In such an event 
the heat in a short space of time may become so great as to cause the 
combs to break. Many of the colonies sent to the exhibitions at 
Cologne, Erfiut, and Potsdam, with large population and abundant 
honey, but meeting with an accident on the way, arrived in this con¬ 
dition. I may also refer to the case of a bee-keeper who, in order 
to keep back a swarm which was on the point of issuing simulta¬ 
neously with another swarm, quickly closed the entrance of the hive, 
and shortly after found the bees suffocated and the wax in a melt¬ 
ing state. 
But I deny that a colony of bees can be ruined or injured by exces¬ 
sive heat when the entrance is open, and I consider it to be quite im¬ 
245 
possible. For if the temperature in the hive should have been raised 
somewhat high, as it might be during a necessary removal of the hives, 
a portion of the bees rush out of the entrance as soon as open—a 
number of bees, which return immediately, and by setting up a terrific 
bum expel the excessively hot and foul air from the hive, -which in a 
short time re-establishes quietness among the bees. But if quick fan¬ 
ning should prove of no avail, because the air that rushes into the 
hive is just as hot as the air which is driven out, the bees may be seen 
to hang out, which we frequently have an opportunity of observing on 
sultry days in the summer. In winter even we may happen to see 
bees hanging out if the colonies have a large population and are kept 
in rather a warm place. When my apiary, containing sixty colonies 
and many empty hives, was completely destroyed by fire in 1846 I 
had an opportunity of observing the behaviour of the bees during 
the heat which human beings were unable to endure. The hotter it 
grew the larger the number of bees became which hung out, but 
otherwise they remained perfectly quiet until they were finally seized 
by the flames and consumed. Thus the bees know how to shift for 
themselves even during an unbearably great heat, as long as relief is 
possible. If, however, Dr. Krasicki wants to make us believe they 
suffer and perish from excess of heat in winter while the entrance of 
the hive is open, they would be the most stupid creatures on earth. 
Dr. Krasicki surely will not be able to plead that the cold does not 
permit the bees to move to the entrance of the hive to establish ven¬ 
tilation, as excess of heat and excess of cold, or the absence of heat, 
are contradictory terms, the one excluding the other. 
But does not Dr. Krasicki produce arguments and evidence in 
favour of his peculiar opinion—that bees, like Polar bears, can stand 
cold better than heat; at least, better during repose in winter, and 
that they are more likely to perish from the latter than from the 
former ? He certainly states his reasons, but they are such as you 
might expect to hear. They become valueless if examined closely. 
He relates how a colony in a log hive, the door of which had given 
way, survived extremely cold weather, and how another community 
existed for several years in a hollow tree with a large opening 
through which the bees entered. But what is there particularly re¬ 
markable in this, and what does it prove ? I myself have had similar 
experience, of which I have given an acccount on various occasions. 
Let us consider the bees retired into the very centre of the structure 
of combs, the latter being covered with hoar frost, and the passages 
between the combs, so to speak, filled up with feathers, or we may 
consider the cluster of bees wrapped up as in a feather bed. As long 
as the bees keep close to the honey they are able to brave the most 
severe cold, no matter whether the hive be closed or open. An open 
door or a good size entrance is a real advantge to bees, because the 
vital air (oxygen) cannot so easily become exhausted as when the 
door is tightly closed or when there is only a small entrance, closed, 
perhaps, with ice. 
In the winter of 1845 I had an opportunity of noticing the appear¬ 
ance of the interior of hives after being exposed to extremely cold 
temperature for a considerable time. A truly Siberian winter con¬ 
tinued without interruption from the beginning of February till 
Easter. I had many of my colonies in wooden boxes, and even those 
in heavy log hives taken into my warm room when the bees were on 
the point of perishing, in order to save as many as I could. But 
what a sight it was whenever I opened a hive ! 
In G-ermany, indeed, we can only desire such a mild temperature for 
our favourites, but we cannot create it. In the struggle for existence 
the bees will always have to battle against their greatest foe, the 
cold. It will remain our business to protect them against this enemy 
as much as we possibly can for the well-being of the bees and in our own 
interest, for the more honey is saved by the protection afforded the 
larger will be the quantity which we can harvest. 
In a future article I propose to state how bees may be assisted in 
the struggle against their greatest enemy, the cold, and how the latter 
may be kept out of the hive as much as possible.— Dr. Dzierzon. 
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION. 
THE STANDARD FRAME. 
A meeting of the Special Committee appointed by the members of 
the Association at the recent General Meeting, held on February 15th, 
for the purpose of determining the form and size of a standard frame 
for general use throughout the United Kingdom, was held at the Lang- 
ham Hotel on Thursday, March lGth. Present—Messrs. T. W. Cowan 
(in the chair), C. N. Abbott, F. Cheshire, J. M. Hooker, A. Neighbour, 
Rev. G. Raynor, and the Rev. F. T. Scott. Mr. J. G. Desborough was 
unavoidably prevented from being present. After the consideration 
of a large amount of correspondence, and the question having been 
fully discussed, it was unanimously resolved that the outside dimen¬ 
sions of the standard frame should be 14 inches long, 8£ inches deep ; 
the top bar to be three-eighths of an inch thick, bottom bar one-eighth 
of an inch thick ; side bars a quarter of an inch thick. These dimen¬ 
sions do not refer to anything outside of the rectangle. It was 
also resolved that standard frames duly stamped should be provided 
at one shilling each. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Harkness it Son, Bedale, Yorkshire .—Descriptive Catalogue of 
Dahlias. 
