JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
October 13, 1881. ] 
343 
removing the soil down to the drainage, and cutting through all 
roots. Leave the soil out of the trench for about a fortnight, when 
it should be returned and well rammed down; this will encourage 
the ripening of the wood, and mostly result in the fruit setting and 
stoning satisfactorily the next season. Although a lessened supply 
of water will be needed now, the border inside must not be allowed 
to become dry, or the buds will be imperfectly formed and fall in 
quantity later on. Push forward the cleansing of the houses and 
trees, and where the roof lights are moveable it will be an advan¬ 
tage to expose the tree to the invigorating influences of the atmo¬ 
sphere during the autumn months, otherwise ventilate to the fullest 
extent, keeping them as cool as possible. 
Cherry House. —Cherries are not nearly so much grown under glass 
as they should be early in the season for dessert when fresh ripe 
fruit is scarce, affording not only variety but a desirable addition 
during April, May, and early June. Cherries must have abundant 
ventilation, and the trees should be accommodated with a trellis 
about a foot distance from the glass. A house of about 12 feet 
width is ample, the back wall being also utilised, the front trellis not 
extending to the top of the house within 3 feet. The top and bottom 
lights must be made to open the full length of the house and up¬ 
wards or outwards, so as to admit of air being given under any cir¬ 
cumstances without admitting rain. A 6-feet width of border will 
suffice, and 4 feet for the back, which will leave 2 feet for pathway 
Confine the roots of the trees to their respective borders, so as to 
allow of the lifting or root-pruning of individual trees as may be 
necessary. The border should be inside the house and the roots 
confined to it, as the trees have to make their growth when external 
conditions are not favourable. A 2J feet depth of border is sufficient, 
having 9 inches of drainage, and drains to carry off superfluous 
water. G-ood turfy loam with the addition of a tenth of old mortar 
rubbish affords the most suitable compost, which should be made 
firm. The trees most suitable for planting are those that have 
been trained to a wall for three or four years. They may be lifted 
carefully and planted as soon as the leaves commence falling. Em¬ 
press Eugenie, May Duke, Black Tartarian, Elton, and Governor 
Wood are good varieties, especially Black Tartarian. The roof lights 
of Cherry houses should be moveable. The lights removed from this 
structure must not be replaced for another month or six weeks. 
Trees in pots can now be examined, potting those that require it, and 
for the others surface-dressing the soil will be sufficient. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Stove. —Ipomoea Horsfallise and other climbers that flower through 
the winter must not have much pruning; but other climbers, such as 
Passifloras, which flower in summer, should now be cut back freely, so 
as to admit light to the plants beneath them. Some Passifloras, 
howevfc” are flowering, notably P. princeps, P. kermesina, 
P Madonna and P J^vcina, and too much of the growths must not 
be removed.’ * Allamandas as roC! timbers are flowering splendidly 
and will continue to do so until a late period, an ^ are muc ^ appre¬ 
ciated at this advanced season, being duly supplied with tepid llfjl- 
manure. Plants intended for early flowering should have very little 
water, only affording a little when the leaves flag, keeping them near 
the glass in a warm well ventilated house, so as to ripen the growth. 
Stephanotis must not be pruned at this season, and should only have 
water to prevent the leaves becoming flaccid; trained on the roof the 
growth will mature perfectly. Any plants that have completed 
growth early and have been rested a time will, if encouraged by a 
brisk moist heat, start into growth ; but to ensure flowering the shoots 
must be grown near the glass. Gardenias that have been forwarded 
early in the season will expand the buds freely in a rather moist 
heat of 65° at night and 70° to 75° by day. Clerodendron Balfouri- 
anum is one of the most accommodating plants in existence, and 
may be had in flower at any season by subjecting it to a system of 
alternate growth and resting. Plants that flowered in May or 
June, and have since completed their growth and been rested for a 
few weeks by keeping them drier, will, upon being placed in heat, 
again produce abundance of flowers. Eranciscea calycina major 
when placed in heat grows and flowers freely, and is very acceptable 
as giving a shade of colour (violet) not common in flowers at this 
time of year, the only other plant of the colour flowering naturally 
at this season being Lasiandra macrantha. Pentas carnea and 
P. kermesina are seldom out of flower, and young plants kept closely 
stopped so as to induce a bushy habit are useful for winter flowering. 
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DEVELOPMENT OF QUEENS AND BEES. 
“ How long does it take to rear a queen from the egg—that is, till 
she is ready to fly ? How long is it, after she emerges from the cell, 
before she will take her wedding flight ? ” The above questions are 
answered as follows in the American Bee Journal :— 
Having passed three days in the egg and five in the larval state 
the workers close the cell, and the future queen commences to spin 
her cocoon, which occupies about a day. Then, apparently exhausted 
by her labours, for three days she obtains complete 
repose, and on the sixteenth day, as a perfect queen, 
she emerges from the cell. The strength of the colony 
and the character of the season may vary it a day or so. 
When the embryo queen is nearly mature—within 
Fig. S6. twelve to sixteen hours of emerging—the bees begin to 
Larva of Bee. demolish the exterior compartment, or extension of the 
top of the cell, reducing it to a level with the outer 
edge of the cap of the cell proper. The convex cap being then very 
prominent is very liable to be injured, and to protect it from injury 
Fig. 57.—Finished Queen Cell, sealed 
over, a, convex cap ; 6, 6, the 
extension of the cell. 
Fig. 58.—Ripe Queen Cell, with the 
exterior compartment removed. 
a, the convex cap. 
the bees coat it with a fresh layer of wax, making it nearly as thick 
at the walls of the cell. 
The young queen pierces a hole through the edge of the cover with 
tlir mandibles, and then makes a circular cut along its periphery. 
Being nearly detached from the cell walls the cap drops, opening a 
circular passage through which the young queen emerges. 
From the egg to the queen emerging from the cell takes sixteen 
days. She is then a virgin queen, and for five or six days she moves 
around in much the same manner 
as a worker bee, helping herself to 
honey from uncapped cells. 
About the fifth day, if the wea¬ 
ther is pleasant, she may be seen 
crawling about the entrance of the 
hive, and if the next day is pro¬ 
pitious she may try her wings 
some distance from the alighting 
board. She will appear somewhat 
eyoited, but after a while she will 
mount up and circle around, in¬ 
creasing the distance each time, 
to mark the hive, and insure a safe 
return from her wedding flight. 
In the warmest part of the after¬ 
noon, when the drones are flying, 
she will spread her beautiful wings 
and soar into the air to mate with 
a drone. If successful she will 
bear the marks of it on her return ; 
if not, she will, after a time on the 
same day, come out again and 
again until it is accomplished. 
She will then return, going quietly 
into the hive, and in a day or two 
she will commence to lay ; so that 
generally, from eight to nine days 
after emerging from the cell, the 
queens are laying. Should the , ,, , . 
weather be unfavourable, and she fails to meet the drones within 
about twenty days, she will have failed in the object of her existence 
and become only a drone-producer. . 
The drone passes three days in the egg, about six and a halt in tne 
larval state, and changes into a perfect drone in twenty-four or 
twenty-five days, counting from the egg. 
Fig. 59.—Eggs and Brood. 
Empty cell; 6 and c, eggs; 
d, e, 
t, and g, various stages of the larvie ; 
h, pupa; i, pupa or queen in queen 
cell ; k, k, caps. 
