550 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDEN El <-• [ December 15, 1881. 
filling the hive with brood, cannot be doubted, but this involves 
loss to the stocks supplying the sealed larvte, and this loss in early 
spring is often sufficiently serious to tell decisively upon the profits. 
These early drones may be secured by placing a comb in the very 
centre of the hive before wintering up, or at any subsequent time 
that the weather makes interference safe. The free supply of 
food and the limitation of the hive seem the other two most im¬ 
portant conditions. All know that small hives, cceteris paribvs, 
swarm before large ones, and so by contraction crowding may be 
induced, and so lead the bees to contemplate colonisation. The 
wishes of the colony (if this expression be allowed) will often lead 
to the selection of cells for ovipositing. I have a frame of comb 
in my possession which is drone in the centre, but in the centre 
only. Here the primitive whiteness of the wax is apparent; no 
larva have been raised in it, while all around is darkened by pupae 
cases. It will not be enough, therefore, to give, in the hive- 
middle, the larger cells ; right conditions must by other means be 
established. This fact brings to mind the caution that if drone 
comb be excluded for economic purposes, the giving of supers of 
drone comb is almost certain to attract the queen, and so lead to 
some detriment by the producing of brood where its absence was 
desirable. 
At some future time I must explain my plan of forming nuclei, 
so that they can be at once remitted to the parent stock when 
their work of queen-raising is complete.—F rank K. Cheshire, 
A rcn ik House, Acton, W. 
WAX-BOILING. 
Boiling wax and preparing it for the market is very disagree¬ 
able work. All bee-keepers with their wives and servants dislike 
this work exceedingly, and none dislike it more than we do. 
Melted wax is easily cooled, and in cooling cleaves to everything 
it touches, and it is difficult to remove. Combs before being 
melted are bulky, and therefore have to be compressed before 
they are placed into a copper to be boiled. When the wax begins 
melting the pollen of the combs is liberated and mixes with the 
water in the copper or boiler. There is great difficulty in sepa¬ 
rating the melted wax from the pollen. Onr plan has been to 
place the compressed combs in a bag of cheese-cloth and boil 
them, then skim off the melted wax and run it through a strainer 
or a piece of muslin. But we have never been satisfied with this 
mode of melting wax. It is troublesome work. After the cakes of 
wax have cooled some pollen slightly mixed with wax adheres to 
their under sides, which is scraped off, the cakes being again boiled 
in clean water and run through a cloth into dishes half filled with 
clean cold water. We obtain thus wax as pure as it is possible to 
take it. By running Ike wax into cold water at the last time of 
boiling the bottom of the cakes appear to advantage, and look as 
if they had been moulded. The bottom of our cakes of wax look 
better than the upper surface, owing to the cold water freezing 
the wax into various forms as soon as they meet. 
Some years ago a bee-keeper at Wigan told the readers of this 
Journal that this plan of taking wax is too slow and troublesome 
and that he had invented another which is easier and better. His 
plan or mode commended itself to me at the time, but owing to 
the smallness of our kitchen oven I have never put it to the test 
of experiment. His plan, if I remember rightly, is to melt the 
combs in a dry heat by putting them into a wire sieve or strainer 
or colander, and placing this in an oven sufficiently warm to melt 
the wax, and over a dish to receive the melted wax as it escapes 
from the pollen. This appears to me to be a very feasible mode 
of melting wax, and much easier than the one we have followed 
for so many years. 
Another mode of taking wax—probably the best yet invented— 
was carried into execution in Bowdon a short time ago. A lady 
obtained a great boxful of honeycombs ; she first took the honey 
cleanly from the combs, then commenced in a novel manner to 
manufacture the wax. Instead of taking the wax from the pollen 
and rubbish, she took the pollen from the wax by washing it in 
clean water. Then she boiled the wax and poured it into a dish 
without usiDg a filter. She brought the wax to me to sell for her, 
which I did at 2s. per ft., and I have never seen better or cleaner 
wax. This plan makes wax-taking comparatively easy and plea¬ 
sant.—A. Pettigrew, Bowdon. 
Bees in December.—I notice as what is to me a very unusual 
occurrence, bees busy on flowers in the open air during the last 
month of the year, especially on some lingering sprays of Mignonette 
and Wallflowers that have mistaken their season. Violets and Prim¬ 
roses are also affording them exercise, but the beautiful yellow flowers 
of the winter Jasmine appear to be more attractive to me than they 
are to them. Will this late feeding benefit the bees?— Doubtful. 
%* All corrospondense should be directed cither 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. 
Exhibiting Chrysanthemums (J. II.). —1, Japanese varieties ought not 
to be included in a class for “ incurved blooms.” 2, Japanese varieties are a dis¬ 
tinct class, and ought only to be exhibited in their own section, unless special 
provision is made to the contrary. 
Second Early Potato (E. Y.). —Soils exert a great influence on the 
Potato, and in the soil in which we planted the tubers you sent the crop was 
not good, being light in weight, and the tubers small. We will try the variety 
again on different ground ; at present, we cannot determine its name even 
approximately, the true character of the tubers evidently not being developed. 
Sawdust as Manure (A Seventeen-years Subscriber). —In the way in 
which the sawdust is prepared—that is, spread in pigstyes and saturated with 
urine and mixed with manure, it will certainly be valuable for your grass land, 
and also for your garden, especially if the soil is of a rather strong nature, as it 
will then have a good mechanical as well as manurial effect. By all means try 
it, and the probability is that it will do much good and not harm. 
Fancy Primula (Vindex). —We have seen many' varieties of the same 
nature, some being better and others worse than yours, but as a rule these novel 
forms possess little decorative value, as, although the plauts grow freely, the 
general effect they produce is seldom satisfactory. You may well preserve your 
plant and raise seedlings from it and try them, as there is always a possibility 
of distinct and attractive forms being produced; but the present variety will 
not, we think, become popular nor prove of commercial value. 
Peach Buds Falling (.Inquirer).— The most fertile cause is a deficiency 
of water at the roots, and the evil is aggravated by overcrowding the growths 
in summer and permitting the foliage to be infested with red spider. As you 
send no particulars relative to the condition of the trees nor the treatment to 
which they have been subjected, you must decide for yourself which lias been 
the most active cause of the evil in your case, and act accordingly to prevent 
a recurrence of it another year. 
Celosia pyramidalis (S. II.). —This is, we think, the name of the plant 
of which the withered spray was sent to ymu that you have forwarded to us. It 
is commonly called the Feathered or Plumed Cockscomb. There are several 
varieties having crimson scarlet, magenta, orange, and scarlet flowers, and good 
plants are very beautiful for autumn and early winter decorative purposes. 
They are raised from seed sown in heat, the plants being grown in rich soil in a 
temperature not lower than 60°. About May or June is a good time for sowing, 
as if raised earlier much care is neede 1 to prevent the plants being drawn, in 
which case they produce small plumes. Strong plants last a long time in 
beauty in a warm conservatory. 
Jasmine on Wall—Vine Border (E. C.). —You may carry out the 
plan j ou propose, taking care, however, to make a judicious selection of growths 
for covering the wall. A great number are sure to be naked towards the base, 
and these would not prove satisfactory. You will no doubt find some having 
side growths or buds down to the ground, the wood also being firm, and these 
arc what you must retain for covering the wall. Assuming the turfy loam and 
garden soil of which you speak is good, we should not mix the manure with it, 
but save it for surfacing the border; if, however, the soil is poor, you might 
mix half the quantity of manure with it, using the other portion as top-dressing. 
Good Grapes are grown without bones. If you could substitute wood ashes or 
burnt soil for the tan you would greatly improve the border. We should not 
use the latter. The lime rubbish will render the border sufficiently porous. 
Potash for Plants (S. S.). —Our correspondent “Single-handed,” to 
whom your letter was submitted, says “ Potash salts may be had under the 
name of sulphate of potash, muriate of potash, ‘ kaiuit,’ and nitrate of potash 
from most seedsmen and all dealers in artificial manures. Kainit, or crude 
potash salts, is cheapest, but it only contains about 25 per cent, of sulphate of 
potash (equal to 13 of pure potash) ; but it also contains large quantities of 
other salts which have been found hurtful to vegetation when more than 5 or 
(i cwt. is applied per acre, and sometimes even that quantity has done mischief. 
Sulphate of potash contains about 60 per cent (equal to 34 of potash), and is, 
though in proportion dearer, altogether preferable. Muriate of potash contains 
81 per cent, of chloride of potash (equal to 50 of pure potash), and is so much 
more valuable. Sulphate of potash is most commonly used. The nitrate (salt¬ 
petre) we have found useful on a small scale— i.e., for pot plants when evil smells 
would not be tolerated. Our source of potash is the cowhouse. Cow urine con¬ 
tains about 40 Its. per ton, and much other valuable matter ; that of the horse 
contains about 54. Like you, we are inclined to think that the proper use of 
potash has not yet been fully ascertained ; with nitrogen it is wonderful how 
long a vigorous growth may be sustained with it.” 
Heating Unsatisfactory ( 11. E. IF.).—Are you sure the pipes are pro¬ 
perly arranged ? Ou this point you say nothing, and the evil of which you 
complain often follows as the result of some mistake that has been made of the 
nature indicated. If you send us a correct sketch of the boiler, pipes, connec¬ 
tions, and cistern, the case shall have our attention. We are unable to answer 
your letter usefully from the want of sufficient data to enable us to fully under¬ 
stand the matter. Under the circumstances there is nothing unusual in your 
Thorn tree flowering now. If severe weather follows it will probably be injured. 
