68 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ July si. mi. 
boring into the cluster on the tree with a stick, and injecting a 
little smoke, I generally find the queens rush to the surface. In 
this way I secured one queen, which was caged, and the cage 
thrust through the crown hole of the emptier of the remaining 
two skeps. A second queen was found dead under the cluster. 
There remained two to be accounted for, neither of which could 
be seen. By way of a test a second skepful of bees was removed 
and placed on the ground a few j ards off. Watching it for a few 
minutes it became evident by the increasing commotion that no 
queen was in it. I therefore at once pulled the cage out of the 
third skep and inserted it in the removed one. In a moment the 
hum of contentment showed all right there. In due time the 
third skep was similarly removed, and, as it remained quiet, gave 
proof of having a queen. As there still remained a small cluster 
contentedly on the rree it was hived in a fourth skep, and proved 
also to have a queen. As this was a small cluster the queen was 
taken away, re-introduced to one of the parent hives, and the bees 
joined to those of another skep. 
Had any of the queens remained unaccounted for I should have 
made a search further while running the bees into their new bar- 
frame hive ; as it was, it was at first thought that six hives had 
swarmed, and that one queen was still to be sought for. The first 
and largest portion of the bees was therefore run up a sloping 
sheet into a sixteen-frame hive, a queen secured and temporarily 
caged in the hive then being filled. As no other was found she 
was released, and it was discovered that there had been only the 
five swarms. 
The disposal of such enormous masses of bees is often a ques¬ 
tion with bee-keepers. A year or two ago a gentleman just arrived 
from Bast Lothian said that when he was leaving there a man was 
attempting to hive the united swarm from sixteen hives into a 
washing tub. A neighbour of mine, for want of another plan, 
hived three top swarms into one hive and lost two of the queens. 
This was about a week ago, but already the bees have filled a 
large hive, and are doing splendid work in two tiers of supers. It 
may during a glut of honey, and when comb foundation and supers 
are available, be the best policy to hive large masses together, 
but it is bad policy to allow even a laying queen to be sacrificed 
in doing so. 
I have a stock formed of three swarms that went together just 
a week ago. I saved two of the queens by picking them off the 
cluster while on the tree. This stock has already as much super 
honey as any old stock in my apiary. In another case, two days 
ago, a first swarm was being run into a bar-frame hive when 
another came off and settled on the same hive. As I failed to see 
a queen 1 waited for an hour or two, when by gently pushing the 
bars aside I easily discovered a queen by the ball of excited bees 
that hug her in such a case. The ball was lifted out with a spoon, 
the bees dispersed, and the queen restored to the hive from which 
she had swarmed. Duplicate queens can thus easily be removed 
a few hours after the swarm is hived. In skeps the balls are 
usually to be found on the floorboard. 
In the case of the united swarm last mentioned a rather rare 
circumstance transpired. After the queen referred to had been 
removed the bees continued very excited, which led me to think 
they had balled the other queen. This I found to be the case. 
She also was caged, but left in the hive. Still the excitement 
continued all night, and next morning when I went to liberate 
the queen I found the cage surrounded by an excited mass of 
bees. Still I thought it safe to liberate the prisoner. At once 
she was again balled. Such a case could only be accounted for 
by supposing that in some mysterious way a third queen had 
entered the hive, so I at once removed the balled queen. In a few 
moments the excitement died away, the bees set to work with a 
will, and in twenty-four hours had all their combs built out and 
mostly furnished with honey, besides starting in a case of sections . 
The intruder, of which I only had one hasty glance, turns out to 
be the late head of a nucleus that stands 10 yards off. She had 
been out on her wedding trip while the swarm was in the air, 
and joining it entered the hive, where she seemed to be preferred 
to the pair of old queens. A few hours more and I should have 
been minus two fertile queens, which means just now a prospective 
loss of five thousand bees a day for at least a week. 
It may not be possible to return each queen captured to her 
own hive. In the above case I knew the queens by sight—one 
little advantage of keeping various races and crosses in an apiary. 
Had I not been sure where each belonged to I should have intro¬ 
duced them with all the precautions taken with strange queens, 
cutting out royal cells, &c. As it was, I simply let them run in at 
the door. 
After-swarms very frequently contain several virgin queens, 
which may be easily captured and made use of in a similar way 
to the above if they are considered worth the while, but in bar- 
frame management after-swarms are not generally allowed, and 
are easily prevented.— William Raitt, Blairgowrie. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
James Walters, Mount Radford, Exeter.— Catalogue, of Roses. 
L. Spath, Kopnickerstrasse, 154, Berlin .—Price List of Bulbous 
Plants. 
ftmntmnm 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
r ^" 
Lygodium scandens (R. G.). —If the specimen is sufficiently large and 
in good condition it will be suitable for exhibiting either in a collection of 
Ferns, or a collection of miscellaneous plants from which Ferns are not excluded. 
Liquid Manure (Idem). —If the liquid in the tank is not too strong it will 
benefit all kinds of softwooded plants and fruit trees in pots that require more 
nourishment than the soil affords. It must not be given to kardwooded plants, 
nor do we advise its use for Ferns without knowing its nature more precisely 
and the condition of the plants. For all kinds of plants in pots liquid manure 
is best given in a comparatively weak state, with alternate applications of puie 
water. 
Hot-water Pipes (A Lover of Grapes). —We are quite unable to explain 
the differences in the prices to which you direct our attention, neither do we 
quite understand the advertisement. You had better write to the firm for 
further particulars and specific information on the subject. If you obtain a 
written warranty that an article is sound and of good quality you will, we 
presume, purchase at the lowest quotation. 
Preserving Walnuts (T. G.). —As you have no cellars at your command 
we should place the nuts in large earthenware pipkins, or failing these in large 
flower pots, and bury them in a cool position in the garden. We have kept nuts 
successfully by this simple method. In some of the pots we have mixed sand 
with the nuts, others sawdust, and in other pots the nuts have been placed 
without either sand or sawdust, and there was little or no difference in the 
results. Walnuts may be kept for a considerable time in an ordinary shed, if 
they are placed in pots with moderately moist sawdust, but not that from Fir 
trees, which contains turpentine. 
Fuchsia Flowers Spotted (C. D.).— Owing to the blooms having been 
placed loosely in a box they had been so dashed in transit, and also withered, 
that they arrived shapeless and shrivelled. The material of which your floor is 
formed is not the cause of the flowers spotting. A danip floor during such hot 
weather as we have recently experienced is not injurious, but the contrary, to 
Fuchsias, provided the ventilation is properly managed. You either keep jour 
house too close, or air is not admitted sufficiently early in the morning, heave 
the top lights open to an extent of 6 inches all night, increasing the ventilation 
the moment the sun shines on the house in the morning, the front ventilators 
also being opened before 8 A.M. during hot weather. 
Campanulate Foxgloves (Mrs. Davidson). —Such flowers as you have 
sent are frequently met with in gardens, but we are not aware that the pecu¬ 
liarity has been “ fixed ”— i. e., that all the plants raised from seed from the 
abnormal flowers produce similar flowers. We have seen plants having flowers 
like those you have sent in a garden this year, that last year produced ordinary 
flowers. Save seed only from the large flowers, and we shall he glad to know if 
the plants that you raise inherit the character of the parents. The stems are 
fasciated, but the cause of the fasciation is not known. The reason you sug¬ 
gest for the character of the flowers is not tenable. 
Packing Flowers (J. T. S.).— Plants sent to be named should be packed 
in boxes sufficiently strong that they are not crushed in transit. The ends of 
the stems should be wrapped with damp moss, and the flowers packed in green 
leaves such as Spinach or .Rhubarb. They then arrive in a fresh state. If sprays 
are simply enclosed in envelopes the flowers are generally so much crushed that 
it is either impossible to determine the names, or much time is lost in endeavour¬ 
ing to do so. When sprays are packed in dry wadding it usually extracts the 
moisture from them and the flowers arrive in a withered state. Of the sprays 
sent in your envelope the white flower is crushed almost beyond identification, 
but we think it is Ranunculus aconitifolius flore-pleuo ; the yellow flower is 
Lysimacliia tliyrsiflora, and the other Astrantia major. Each flower sent to be 
named should have a number attached which is visible without untying the 
ligature that binds it to the stem. Tin boxes are the best of all for packing 
flowers in. 
Making a Lawn (J. S. J.).— The best time for digging up a lawn and 
sowing grass seeds is probably during fine weather in April; but it may be done 
at any time before September if the ground is moist and the weather genial. 
For digging up an old lawn and cleansing it from weeds, which is very impor¬ 
tant, dry weather is favourable; but it would be little use sowing the seed when 
the ground is hot and dry as dust, neither would a shower that moistened the 
surface only, leaving the ground dry below, render the plot suitable for sowing. 
We never submit estimates of cost, nor can we name the best mixture of Grasses 
for your purpose without knowing the nature of the soil. The most economical 
plan you can adopt is to state the size of your ground and the nature of the 
soil to an experienced lawn seedsman, and you will be supplied with the proper 
mixture and quantity with the cost thereof. If you order your own mixture the 
cost will be greater, while the results will not be better. Lawn seed cannot well 
be sown too thickly, thin sowing being false economy. Reliable seedsmen 
advertise in our columns. 
Naming Coleuses (Sto/ce-onTrent ).—As we have many times stated, we 
do not undertake to name varieties of plants, but only species, and as the 
leaves you have sent represent varieties we cannot name them. Coleuses 
are now so numerous, and many of the varieties so closely resemble each other, 
that it is not possible to determine the names from leaves without comparing 
them with the plants in a large named collection. If you send leaves to the 
florist from whom you purchased the plants he will name them for you ; or a 
