April 27, 1882.] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
351 
shrubs are beneficial. Considering the risk that attends the re¬ 
moval of large specimens it will be found more satisfactory to plant 
such as are of medium size ; but if for immediate effect large plants 
are to be moved the holes should be prepared of sufficient size and 
depth previously, so as to keep the trees out of the soil as short a 
time as possible. After planting give a good watering, and mulch 
with partially decayed leaves or spent manure, and secure them to 
stakes. 
The hardy fernery should now be placed in order, removing the 
old fronds of Ferns. A top-dressing of fresh peat or loam or 
some thoroughly reduced leaf soil should be applied. In connection 
with the hardy fernery may be associated the rock garden, which 
must be rendered as neat as possible. Herbaceous plants may still 
be divided, and any wintered under protection should be planted out. 
Lobelias of the L. fulgens type have very brilliant flowers, and to do 
them well should be shifted on until the middle of May, and be then 
planted out where they can obtain plenty of moisture. Make another 
sowing of Sweet Peas and Mignonette, also the principal sowing of 
hardy annuals, which in clumps in the mixed border afford a pleasing 
variety. Asters, Stocks, and other half-hardy annuals may now be 
sown thinly under the protection of handlights or old'frames in 
fine sifted leaf soil and loam, where the plants soon become more 
vigorous than those grown in heat. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Greenhouse .—Cuttings of Salvias for winter flowering should now 
be inserted, selecting shoots of moderate strength, employing a com¬ 
post of half loam and sand, and place the pots in moderate heat. If 
kept moist and shaded during bright weather the cuttings will soon 
form roots. When well rooted place them singly in 4-inch pots, and 
keep them in a little heat until fairly established, then remove 
them to a cold pit, repotting as they require it. Hydrangea cuttings 
taken now from suckers that spring from the base of plants being 
forced into flower, and inserted in small pots in a little heat, wiB 
quickly root, after which they can be placed in 4-inch pots, and 
finally into G or 7-inch, in which, with good management, they will 
flower well next season. The blue and white varieties of Campanula 
pyramidalis are fine for conservatory decoration, and seedlings or 
suckers of last year should be shifted into 8 and 10-inch pots. Seeds 
of these Campanulas now sown in a pan in a little heat will produce 
plants that if well attended to through the summer will flower next 
season. Humea elegans encouraged with liberal root space and 
kept free from aphides and red spider make elegant conservatory 
plants, contrasting well with anything. Balsam and Cockscomb seed 
should now be sown. Globe Amaranthus are also useful for con¬ 
servatory decoration, and seed may be sown. Petunias of both 
double and single varieties should be repotted in good loam with 
leaf soil or well-decayed manure. 
Epacrises that have ceased flowering should now be cut back, and 
if the plants are as large as required, they may be cut to within a 
few inches of the point to which they were shortened last season. 
A little heat and moderate syringing will induce them to start freely. 
Camellias should be encouraged to make free growth by a some¬ 
what close and moist atmosphere, keeping them well supplied with 
water at the roots, and shading from powerful sun. Any plants of 
Cytisus that flowered early can be cut in and encouraged to make 
growth by syringing them, and, the growth completed early, they will 
flower early. Tuberous Begonias must not remain under stages or 
in other positions in which they have been wintered, but should be 
potted and placed in a light position to insure a sturdy habit. Similar 
remarks apply to Liliums, which should have a top-dressing as they 
advance in growth. Kalosanthes now producing their flowers must 
receive sufficient water to keep their last year’s foliage good. 
BEES IN CONFINEMENT. 
Can bees be wintered in a greenhouse with the doors of their 
hives open 1 Yes ; we have kept weak hives in a greenhouse 
during the winter and spring months. Many American apiarians 
winter their hives in dark cellars, but there the bees have no light 
and never leave their hives to fly about. At Sale I placed hives 
in a greenhouse with a span-roof, CO feet long and 12 feet wide, 
and there let them fly as much as they liked. On the first day or 
two of their confinement many of the bees flew against the glass 
and became bewildered, and some were lost. The bees that flew 
against the glass became fatigued and rested on the sill of the 
greenhouse. Many of the bees on the sills gathered together in 
clusters, when they were carefully picked or swept up and carried 
to-their hives. In a few days the bees became accustomed to 
their confinement, and flew backwards and forwards in the green¬ 
house without attempting to fly against the glass. In placing 
bees under glass a little care and attention are necessary for a 
few days. By placing a dish of broken honeycomb near the doors 
of the hives the bees smelt the honey on coming out, and many 
of them commenced to carry it into their hives. By removing 
the honey to a greater distance the bees soon become acquainted 
with their new home and its immediate surroundings. When 
bees are in a greenhouse they seldom leave their hives till the 
thermometer rises to about 50°. When the mercury ranges 
between 50° and 60° the bees find every flower, and delight to 
work on Chinese Primroses. The gardener at Worsley Hall ten or 
fifteen years ago placed a hive every season in his early Peach 
house, and valued the services of the bees there very much, for 
they never failed to set a good crop of fruit. 
This subject of confining bees has cropped up in my mind by 
reading a short letter in an American paper, written by a bee¬ 
keeper of the name of Foster. “ He says, “ As there have been 
various experiments in keeping bees in hothouses, and as this is 
the season to try it, possibly my experience will aid some in 
developing a system of management by which bees can be profit¬ 
ably manipulated during the winter months. I have succeeded in 
getting the bees to fly freely without darting against the glass, and 
also in having them’readily to the hive. The room I used last winter 
is 8 feet wide by 12 feet long, and 7 feet high at the sides, and the 
ceiling is slanting with the roof. It is lathed and plastered, and 
has in the south slope of the roof and at one end a skylight. 
These are the only windows. I placed a barrel on a box in a 
corner under the window, and a hive of bees on the barrel so 
that the entrance of the hive would be near the window. A stove 
and the door were in the opposite end of the room. I spread a 
sheet over the window to keep the bees from darting against the 
glass. I kept the temperature at about 70°. The bees sallied out 
in great numbers and returned to their hive. My object was to 
cure dysentery, which I believe was caused by long confinement 
and suffocation. The bees voided freely, and I think the cure 
would have been permanent if I could have left them in the room 
long enough, but I was obliged to carry them back to make room 
for others ; and as the weather was very severe the disease soon 
reappeared.”— A. Pettigrew. 
THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE IRISH 
BEE-KEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION. 
This was held on the 13th inst. in the Members’ Room of the 
Royal Dublin Society’s Buildings, Ball’s Bridge. The Rev. Geo. 
Proctor in the chair. There was a large attendance of members. 
After the report had been read and adopted, resolutions were passed 
re-electing the Marchioness of Waterford as President, and the mem¬ 
bers of the outgoing Committee. Resolutions were also passed ap¬ 
proving of the charges fixed by the Committee for the hire of the 
bee tent, and in favour of an alteration of the rules, giving power 
to the present Committee to co-opt six members who should be resi¬ 
dent in or near Dublin, and approving the recommendation of the 
Committee to have an additional Honorary Secretary. 
A resolution, recommending the adoption as a standard a frame 
measuring 14 inches by 9 inches outside, having been put and nega¬ 
tived, a resolution approving of the frame adopted by the British 
Bee-keepers’ Association was passed. A resolution in favour of a 
journal exclusively for bee-keepers, and independent of trade in¬ 
fluences, and promising to suppoit such a journal if brought out 
under proper management, having been passed, the proceedings 
closed with the usual vote of thanks. 
BEES DWINDLING. 
I have been much perplexed this spring with my bees dwind¬ 
ling, and I have used all my ingenuity to assist them out of their 
weakness, such as keeping them dry and warm and giving them 
plenty of food ; still they dwindle at a fearful rate. I have been 
conjecturing very much, and I blame myself for one error— 
namely, I renovated them too soon—as soon as January ; then I 
gave them what I considered better quilts, and one a new body 
box. But all this did not seem to improve them. One very 
