JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 20, 1882. ] 
on warm sunny afternoons, closing the lights for an hour or two at 
the same time, but afterwards open them a little at the top for half 
an hour. Still maintain a good bottom heat by means of fresh 
linings, and afterwards be careful to allow the escape of rank heat 
and steam. Earth up the roots lightly from time to time. Sow seed 
at once to raise plants for ridges outside. 
Melons .—The earliest plants having their fruits swelling will need 
a genial atmosphere and copious supplies of water or liquid manure 
at the roots, damping the house in the morning, and lightly syringe 
the plants in the afternoon of fine days. Keep the laterals closely 
pinched and remove superfluous growths. Maintain a night tem¬ 
perature of 70°, and 80° to 85° or 90° with sun heat. Later plants 
are now showing fruit, and unless these are abundant remove 
the first, as it is important that the female flowers be nearly of one 
stage of growth. There will usually be no difficulty in securing half 
a dozen pistillate flowers on each plant if the plants have made 
plenty of growth. Fertilise the flowers daily, maintaining a drier 
condition of the atmosphere for a few days, and only give as much 
moisture at the roots as will prevent flagging. In pits and frames a 
good bottom heat must still be maintained, and as the plants flower 
observe the conditions before advised during the setting period. 
After the fruits have set place them on a piece of slate. 
PLANT HOUSE. 
Orchids .—East Indian species are now growing, and will require 
abundant moisture with a good heat. A temperature of 70° at night 
and 80° by day should be maintained, a little ventilation being neces¬ 
sary on fine days from about 9 A.M. until 4 P.M. Shading will be 
needed when the sun is very powerful. Syringe the plants early in 
the morning and again in the afternoon on fine days, guarding against 
damping the flowers. Cattleyas that are growing will require careful 
attention, and should be separated from those that have completed 
their growth. Cattleya labiata and C. guttata, Lcelia elegans, and 
many others in a growing state, will require to be kept moist; but 
Cattleya Mossire, Lmlia purpurata, and others that have their growths 
completed, should be placed at the coolest end of the house and have 
less moisture. Barkerias should be kept cool and moist; in fine 
weather they require syringing two or three times a day. Coelogyne 
cristata must be frequently syringed now it is starting in growth, 
and as the plants make fresh roots they require a good supply of 
water. Cypripediums must have plentiful supplies of water. Where 
Lycastes require repotting it should be done immediately the flower¬ 
ing is past, using good fibrous peat with good drainage, as they re¬ 
quire plenty of water during growth. Fumigate frequently to keep 
down thrips. 
HE BEE-KEEPER. 1 
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_ 
BEE-KEEPING—THE BAR-FRAME HIVE. 
So many persons have commenced bee-keeping in the new and 
very commendable system of the bar-frame hive, I will attempt to 
give some hints as to its successful management as regards winter¬ 
ing and obtaining surplus honey in super or otherwise. 
Wintering bees properly is a more difficult matter than most 
people are aware of, heat being the point aimed at by many, which 
is not at all the essential one. Dryness is the essential point in 
wintering bees, and the one on "which the straw skepist builds his 
arguments. Straw is a dry porous material. In summer it is a 
good non-conductor, and in winter it is a good absorber of damp 
in the inside of the hive, where there is much evaporation, and if 
provisions are not made for its escape it will condense, causing 
saturation and a humid atmosphere in the hive—the very worst 
thing for bee life. This and low price are the only advantages I 
can see in the straw skep, while the bar frame has very many, and 
with a little intelligence can be made quite as dry as aDy straw 
skep. Our bar frames have wooden covers to go all over them 
from floorboard to 7 or 8 inches on the square above the top to 
allow of supering. I have the cover cut in two. The bottom part 
comes up to the top of the hive, and the top part having plinths 
all round to secure the junction fitting on it exactly, and allowing 
of it being easily removed for manipulating purposes. I have holes 
in both ends of the top part covered with perforated zinc to ensure 
331 
ventilation and keep all sweet inside. I remove the crown board 
altogether, and substitute for it some quilting of such material as 
room felting, carpet, old flannel, or bagging. This warm but 
porous top cover keeps all very dry on the top of the frames. The 
latter are generally reduced to about five or six for wintering. 
This is my simple plan, and I have never yet lost any bees in 
winter. In spring, instead of putting in a frame at the side to 
increase the number of frames, it is much better to put one in 
between two containing brood, so that at once the bees will elon¬ 
gate the cells of the comb foundation, and the queen will lay in 
them perhaps within twenty-four hours, whereas if it were put 
outside the other frames it would remain unnoticed by the queen, 
as she is not disposed to deposit eggs on an outside comb except 
in June or July, and even then we invariably find it occupied with 
honey. In September, when the hive is being contracted and the 
frames being reduced to six, those containing the whitest comb 
can be kept out and used in the house, and sufficient sugar syrup 
given to the bees to fill at least five of the frames. This syrup, if 
possible, ought to be given in September, so as to allow the bees 
to have it stored and sealed over before frost. Open food is in¬ 
jurious to bees, as it causes much damp inside the hive. For those 
who would not care to take the trouble with sectional supers, the 
taking-out of a comb or two as the bees fill it would answer very 
well. They would have a fair return for a minimum of trouble, 
but not to be compared in results to the small section system that 
I will next explain.— Comber, Co. Down. 
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION. 
The second quarterly meeting of the present year, held for the 
purpose of conferring with the representatives of county bee-keepers’ 
associations, took place in the Board-room of the Royal Society for 
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals at 105, Jermyn Street, on 
Wednesday, April 12th. Mr. Thos. W. Cowan presided. There were 
present—Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh, Rev. E. Bartrum, Capt. C. D. 
Campbell, Messrs. H. Jonas, J. M. Hooker, D. Stewart, W. O. B. 
Glennie (Treasurer), Rev. H. R. Peel (Hon. Sec.), and the following 
representatives—viz., Messrs. Cartland (Berks and Bucks), E. Durrant 
(Essex), J. Garratt (Kent),H. Yates and Mr. Melbourne (Lincolnshire), 
Revs. J. H. Dixon and W. E. Burkitt (Wiltshire). Further arrange¬ 
ments were made in connection with the exhibition of bees, hives, 
honey, &c., to be held in connection with the Bath and West of 
England Agricultural Show at Cardiff. Resolved that the following 
gentlemen be requested to act as Judges—viz., at Cardiff, Rev. K. M. 
Filleul, Mr. George Bevan Fox, and Mr. C. Tite. At Reading (Royal 
Agricultural Society), Rev. S. R. Wilkinson, the Rev. E. Bartrum, 
Mr. W. H. Harris, Mr. J. M. Hooker, and Mr. Thos. W. Cowan. 
It was resolved that communications be made with the British 
Dairy Farmers’ Association, with the view of an exhibition of bees, 
hives, honey, ifcc., being held in connection with the annual Dairy 
Show to be held at the Agricultural Hall, Islington, on December 3rd 
and following days. 
The Honorary Secretary reported the formation of several new 
county bee-keepers’ associations since the commencement of the pre¬ 
sent year. The work of these associations was much retarded for the 
want of good and efficient resident experts. In many counties bee¬ 
keeping was but very little understood, and experts had to be sent 
from long distances to traverse these counties to give the necessary 
instruction, and much expense was incurred thereby. The Rev. H. 
R. Peel suggested that some steps should be taken to teach and 
qualify young men so to act. He was of opinion that such persons 
should adopt bee-keeping as a profession, having a knowledge of the 
manufacture of hives and other bee-keeping appliances.. There was 
a large field of labour open for enterprising men in this particular 
direction, more especially in the distant counties of England, Wales, 
ifec. The question was discussed at some length. Ultimately it was 
resolved “ That the Hon. Secretary be requested to communicate 
with the experts of the British Bee-keepers’ Association, asking them 
upon what terms they would take'young men to accompany them.on 
their tours of inspection in the spring and autumn months, and with 
the bee tent at agricultural and horticultural shows, for the purpose 
of teaching them bee-management sufficiently to enable them to act 
as country experts.” 
SI) PE RING. 
How speedily seasons wheel round. Gooseberry bushes and 
P!nm trees are in blossom at Bowdon. A look to-day into some of 
my nives made me think of swarming and supering, and reminded 
me that the hot and honey weather of last year came suddenly 
and found many apiarians like myself not fully prepared to take 
and use the advamages offered by it. Resolutions were then 
made to act differently this year and be prepared beforehand for 
the supering and swarming season. At this season in large apiaries 
both bees and bee-masters are all in a buzz of pleasure and activity 
if ample preparations have been previously made for all possible 
wants and contingencies. Even at the active season bee-keepiug 
