JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
March SO, 1882. ] 
269 
or three quarts of syrup. The tube or cylinder is without bottom, 
so that the bees can pass through it, and get the syrup from the 
trough and carry it down into the hive. A thin wooden float with 
holes pierced in it is used to prevent the bees being drowned. When 
these feeders were first used they were found to be defective and 
very destructive of bee life. The bees found their way to the syrup, 
but were unable to carry the syrup up the smooth sides of the cylin¬ 
ders, fell back, and were drowned in the trough. It was suggested 
that the cylinder be covered with wire gauze, so that the bees would 
have foothold, and be able to travel upwards and downwards with 
loads. This has been done, and these feeders are very useful and 
convenient. When a Lancashire feeder with sugar in the trough is 
first placed on a hive the bees seem a little bewildered in their efforts 
to find their way to the syrup, but are easily led to it by a track or 
trail of the syrup from the bee nest to the trough. Once there they 
find tbeir way back, and need no more guidance by the way. No 
objection can be offered to top feeding. 
We feed from below with feeders and dishes of various kinds. 
For feeding young swarms we use common flower pot saucers filled 
with chips of wood, or hay or straw cut short. These saucers are 
placed on the centre of the floorboards and filled with syrup ; the 
swarm hives are placed over the syrup on the boards. Arrange¬ 
ments are made for refilling them from the outside by a three-quarter- 
inch gaspipe pushed through the sides of the hives. Thus the dishes 
or troughs or saucers can be refilled without touching the hives or 
disturbing the bees. We have several boards with large troughs 
fixed in them. A circular hole 10 inches in diameter is cut out of the 
board. A tin trough If inch deep is made to fit the hole and drop 
into it; thus the rim or ledges of the trough rest on and are level 
with the board. By connecting a tin tube 6 inches long to the trough 
and to a small funnel at the other end we have a feeding board that 
cannot be surpassed for convenience and usefulness. By filling the 
trough with chips of wood or by having in it a pierced float any hive 
may be placed on it. Our feeding boards hold three quarts of syrup 
each (6 lbs.), and we have seen a swarm take 6 lbs. out of a trough 
in three years. Both the Lancashire feeder and the feeding board 
just described if properly made are perfect. 
As to the times and seasons of feeding bees little need be said. 
We hold that in ordinary seasons a halfpennyworth of good syrup 
given to a hive every day throughout the month of March is well- 
spent money. This is called gentle stimulative feeding, and it 
almost always promotes health and prosperity. If the weather be 
fine during the fruit blossom season this gentle feeding is dis¬ 
continued; indeed, bees should not be fed while they are storing up 
honey. Care should be taken during the spring months to avoid 
giving bees more than is required for the daily wants of hives. 
Care should also be taken to prevent syrup being mixed with pure 
honey while being stored. Nobody likes honey deteriorated. 
Feeding occasionally during the summer months while weather is 
unfavourable may be practised with advantage, not to be stored up, 
but, as we already said, to encourage breeding, and keep the bees in 
good trim for future work and activity. 
Autumn feeding is practised when bees have not food enough for 
winter. Some seasons bees cannot keep themselves and store up 
honey enough for winter use. In very favourable seasons for honey 
bees gather far more than they can eat, and more than is neces¬ 
sary for winter use. In such favourable seasons we take honey— 
all the honey from every hive in the apiary—put the bees into empty 
hives, and feed them into stocks in about sixteen or twenty days; 
3 or 4 lbs. of syrup are given to each swarm every night. A little 
careful attention to the art of feeding bees will soon make beginners 
experts, and the more they put in practice this art the more clearly 
will they see its importance.—A. Pettigrew. 
TRADE CATALOGUE RECEIVED. 
Rawlings Brothers, Romford, Essex.— Catalogue of Dahlias. 
j — 
(TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
mSmif 
%,* 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. 
To Correspondents. —Owing to the great pressure on our columns 
several letters relative to Roses from cuttings, with other valuable articles, 
must stand over to a future issue. All letters suitable for publication that are 
obligingly sent to us will appear as soon as possible, and they are not the less 
valued or useful because not inserted immediately they are received. 
Address ( Cranfordian). —If you write to Messrs. Perkins & Sons, Park 
Nurseries, Coventry, you can obtain the particulars you require. 
The Hardiest Flowering Plant (Annie). —We cannot decide this, but 
the Ranunculus glacialis was the only one left when M. du Chaillu visited the 
snow line in Lapland. The Lichens disappeared at about 2000 feet above the 
snow line. 
Gardeners’ Year Book (H. M., Paris). —The issue to which you refer has 
long been out of print, and we do not know of any other means of obtaining a 
copy than by advertising in the Journal, and even this might not prove suc¬ 
cessful, as we find it difficult to procure back numbers of this publication. 
Peach Trees Eaten (A Subscriber). —The insects you have sent are 
copper-coloured weevils, Curculio cupreus, which are very destructive. Continue 
your practice of sedulous handpicking, and destroy as many as possible. See 
also our reply to a correspondent whose Peas are attacked with another Curculio, 
and tr3' the preventive measures there suggested. 
African Marigolds (Homo). —You are perhaps not aware of it, but your 
letter is clearly an advertisement. We do not say that your object was to 
benefit any particular individual, but that would be the effect of the letter if 
published, and our readers would derive no advantage unless seed of the strain 
you mention is to be distributed gratuitously. If it is to be thus disposed of we 
will publish your letter without charge, and append to it the notification indi¬ 
cated ; but if the seed is to be sold, the terms for advertising it can be obtained 
from the publisher. 
Nitrate of Potash—Muriate of Ammonia (Lincoln Engine ).— 
Although the reaction you refer to takes place, it is of little or no practical 
value. Both substances are valuable manures, either for making liquid manure 
or for sprinkling on the surface of the ground between rows of plants in showery 
weather. For plants in pots one teaspoonful of either, singly or both mixed, 
will be sufficient in a gallon of water will be quite strong enough, and then 
should only be given to plants that have well rooted in the soil they are growing 
in. Never give liquid manure to dry soil. 
Pea Leaves Scolloped (Rev. W. A.). —The leaves sent have been eaten 
by the Pea Weevil, Curculio lineatus. In Scotland it is commonly called “ the 
Cuddy,” or Donkey, from its grey colour. The whole body is grey, and marked 
with black lines; the antennae reddish ; the eyes black. They survive the 
winter sheltered beneath moss, &c., and in bad weather at all seasons retire 
under stones, only to reappear with the sunshine. The beetles must be care¬ 
fully sought for and destroyed. In all probability the soap and paraffin 
mixture recommended to a correspondent last week -would render the leaves 
distasteful to the insects, and an infusion of quassia would have the same effect. 
This is made by boiling a quarter of a pound of quassia chips for twenty 
minutes in a gallon of water, and then adding three more gallons of water 
before using. 
Sulphate of Potash (F. hi. S.). —Sulphate of potash is an almost insoluble 
salt, and is not readily assimilated by plants. It is generally considered that 
before it is taken up by the roots of plants it is changed in the soil to the 
carbonate, in which state it is absorbed. This change takes place in the soil 
slowly, hence the crops a year or more after its application frequently derive 
more benefit than the crop to which it is applied. Sprinkled on fermenting 
manure (farmyard) this change takes place much more rapidly; still a month 
or two should be allowed to elapse before the manure is used. Read the article 
again to which you refer. You seem to have missed the main points. We never 
recommend a dealer. The reason should be obvious. 
Refuse Heaps (Idem). —Your definition of refuse is rather vague. If you 
mean prunings there should be no great difficulty in having them dry enough 
for burning, especially at this season, and the resulting ashes you would find 
valuable. If your heap consists of such material as cabbage stumps, wet leaves, 
and dead plants from the flower garden, you should turn it over and mix in 
newly slaked lime liberally. This will not only hasten its decay, but greatly 
add to its value. If the ammoniacal liquor of the gasworks can be easily 
obtained it will serve the same purpose. It will kill any living matter, such as 
the roots of Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli, &e.,'causing the heap to ferment, and 
rendering it richer by adding ammonia. When such material must be disposed 
of at once it should be chopped small and trenched into the ground. 
Marechal Niel Roses in Vinery (IF. II. £.).—We have grown this Rose 
in the manner you suggest, and gathered numbers of fine blooms, and the Grapes 
were also satisfactory ; but they were not, you must understand, grown for ex¬ 
hibition, and large bunches were not required. If you are satisfied with bunches 
ranging from 1 lb. to 2 lbs. in weight you may easily produce them and hundreds 
of blooms of Marechal Niel too, provided the border and general management 
are satisfactory. Soil that will produce good Grapes will grow good Roses, 
affording top-dressings and liquid manure as may be needed to induce healthy 
growth. If your object is to secure very fine Grapes you had better not train the 
Rose giowths between the Vines, but sacrifice a Vine at the end of the house 
next the wall; you could then cover the wall with Roses and a portion of the 
roof too. Only strong well-supported plants will produce such strong and 
rapid growths as those referred to at Burghley ; but with good culture there is 
no difficulty in producing vigorous plants, and then the plan described on 
page 238 is the best for growing this fine Rose under glass. The other Rose to 
which you allude is probably R£ve d'Gr, and you cannot do better than train 
up young shoots as you suggest, and if these are kept clean and healthy they 
will in due time afford abundance of flowers. 
Snails on Ferns (E. Y.). —If you found the small snails on the plants 
they are no doubt the cause of the injury. Try syringing a plant with a solution 
of paraffin and soft soap, prepared as described to a correspondent, 11 H. N.,” in 
our last issue on page 247. If this does not injure the fronds, and wo do not 
think it will, the other plants can be similarly treated. The dressing will render 
the fronds distasteful to the snails ; these, however, should be carefully removed. 
