5G0 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 18, 1884. 
iisine any appliances but what the hive affords, his neighbour 
will have both. Perhaps he uses queen-excluder zinc, which is 
not always successful, in keeping the queen down, and only a 
hindrance to the bees at the best, in obstructing the passage and 
causing a very great amount of propolis while the discoloration 
of the combs goes on. Both of these difficulties can be overcome 
by simply providing sufficient breeding space, and using slides on 
the top of the hive. I think these remarks should be sufficient 
to enable anyone to understand what a hive should be like, 
provided they have not forgotten the essential ventilating 
floor. 
A thorough knowledge of supers and the art of supering 
seems to be in more request than the hive itself. I will therefore 
describe in detail a few things necessary to success with these 
The fii’st thing is to have the bees forward in time (whether these 
be swarms, or stock hives as non-swarmers) to take the advantage 
of the first, honey glut. It must be understood that no hive is 
in a fit state for supering unless the body of the stock hive is of 
sufficient size to allow the queen full scope for her egg-laying 
powers, with that additional space necessary for pollen, water, 
and honey stores essential to insure the continuation of breeding 
and prosperity should the weather be unfavourable. When the 
hive is in this satisfactory condition it is fit to be supered the 
moment honey becomes plentiful. This important time may be 
learned by a careful study of the various meteorological instru¬ 
ments and of the bees themselves. It is only during the very 
finest weather that bees store surplus honey, beginning very 
often after a very low tempqi-ature, and ending with wind or rain, 
the former being more detrimental in bringing the honey season 
to a close than the latter. The honey season is often short and 
xtneertain, and the bee keeper must know my reasons for recom¬ 
mending the form of hive most suitable to have the bees early 
and in readiness at all times. During a few months in summer 
it makes little difference what hive bees are in, but it is of 
material importance which they shall be in throughout the whole 
season, giving the bees every assistance towards economy. 
When hives are ready for supering it should be performed 
immediately, but not before, as extra space unoccupied by the 
bees retard them much. The shallower supers are, the more 
readily are they taken possession of by the bees. Mr. S. Bevan 
Fox long since demonstrated and explained this system with 
his large yet beautiful supers wrought upon the telescopic prin¬ 
ciple, but is tended with trouble. The Stewarton supers may be 
taken as the type of good supers, 4 inches being the maximum 
depth, and 3 the minimum depth. All supers or sections above 
that are too deep and objectionable in most cases to bees ascend¬ 
ing when first put on, although with strong hives it is often 
absolutely necessary to give two supers as advised at first by 
“ A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper,” and now adopted by many. This 
system of giving two supers at a time, and that of adding a 
second super after the first is tolerably well combed, increase the 
yield in proportion as three stand in relation to two. In regard 
to bees finishing sujiers, no bees will finish supers satisfactorily 
outside the natural cluster; therefore in brood hives supers should 
not extend the whole width, and these as well as narrow hives 
should be thoroughly wrapped up considerably below the super 
line. The better covered supers and hives are, the quicker they 
are filled, and the purer the comb in the super. Bees dislike 
glass, so that the less of it both in supers and hives the better. 
The Stewarton super is always last to be finished at the small 
pane. This is a good index to learn when it is full yet offering 
little obstruction to the bees. 
Although it is the best and safest time to manipulate bees 
between the hours of one and three in the afternoon, yet during 
a glut, or when the bees are gathering honey, upon no pretext 
whatever should they be interfered with; all manipulations during 
that time should be done after the bees have ceased working. If 
two hives are of equal strength, one being manipulated during 
working hours, the other not, the latter will be found when 
weighed heavier by several pounds than its disturbed neighbour. 
Bees do not seal up their honey so quickly as to warrant a daily 
inspection. 
Having already expressed my experience on supers, I may 
add, howevei’, that a large super of one compartment is filled 
quicker in proportion than those in divisions though less in size. 
I have mostly wrought sections, as in one compartment, but the 
appliances are more expensive. The super described at page 472 
is a great favourite amongst bee-keepers, and as it can be either 
a 1 lb. section or full-sized super or supers, divisible to any 
weight of comb desired, easily protected from dust, yet fully 
exposed to the view, when glazed and in the cheapest form to be 
sent by rail or otherwise. A full-sized super of this sort is 
made by having the top bar of the desired length, and the 
thickness in proportion to the weight of section required. The 
ends are 2 inches, while the inner divisions are If inch only], the 
same breadth as the top bar, thus securing to the bees a single 
compartment in many divisions, capable of being storified to 
any height. When full of comb and emptied of bees by carbolised 
paper they are ready to be lashed together and sent to the mer¬ 
chant to be manipulated by him as his fancy directs.— Lanark¬ 
shire Bee-keeper. 
P.S.—It is a good plan when bees are working in supers and 
a swarm issues, not to retuim it, as in nine cases out of ten they 
will swarm again in a few days, or perhaps next day, while honey¬ 
gathering in a great measure ceases. It is far better to keep it 
off and join it to a weaker one, or to the next swarm that comes, 
when a redistribution of supers from the old stocks to the new 
ones may be set about. Never attempt to interfere with the body 
of a hive when supers are on it.—L. B. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
James Carter & Co., 237 and 238, High Holborn.— Vade Mecum for 
1885 {illustrated). 
Robert Owen, Boyne Hill, Maidenhead. —List of New atid Select Chrys¬ 
anthemums. 
George Swailes, Beverley, Yorks. —Price List of New Hybrid Perpetual 
Pose Mrs. Caroline Smniles. 
Frederick Roemer, Qaedlinburg, Germany. —Catalogue of Flower and 
Vegetable Seeds. 
All coiTespondence should be directed either 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 WTite privately to any of our correspon¬ 
dents, as doing so subjects them to unjustifiable trouble and 
e^^ense. 
Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions relat¬ 
ing to Gardening and those on Bee subjecis, and should never 
send more than two or three questions at once. All articles in¬ 
tended 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. 
Addresses (A. C.). —We think you can obtain the information you require 
by writing to Messrs. Negretti ifc Zambia, Holborn Viaduct, London ; or to 
Le Jeune & Perkins, Hatton Garden, London. 
Books on Estate Measurement (iV. L. C.). —For timber, “Hoppus’6 
Measurer,” Frederick Warne & Co., Bedford Street, Strand, London. For 
laud, “ Mensuration, and Measuring,” (illustrated), Crosby Lockwood and 
Co., 7, Stationers’ Hall Court, Ludgate Hill, London. You can obtain 
books on all the other subjects you mention at reasonable prices from this 
firm. 
Book [Cambridge). —The only work we know devoted to the subject you 
name is “Floral Decorations for Dwelling Houses,” by Annie Hassard, 
published by Macmillan & Co., London. We give an extract from this book 
on another page, which will indicate its character to you. 
Employment at Kew [A Subscriber). —To obtain admission into the 
Royal Gardens, Kew, testimonials extending over at least three years’ 
service in other gardens are required, together with a general recommenda¬ 
tion as regards character. The first course is to make an application to the 
Curator, Mr. J. Smith, stating that you desire to enter the Gardens. A 
form will then be sent to be filled up and returned, when if this is satisfac¬ 
tory your name will be placed on the books for admission at the first con¬ 
venient vacancy. The duties are the ordinary routine of plant-culture in 
the various departments, attending lectures and reading room. 
Primulas [W. E. L.). —The flowers sent are very good indeed, but the 
varieties are incorrectly numbered. Whether the mistake has occurred in 
arranging the flowers in the box or of labelling the plants we have, of 
course, no means of knowing. If you are satisfied the error was with the 
seedsman you had better send blooms to him and he will investigate the 
matter. 
Wireworm and Grubs in a Garden [Irish Subscriber). —If wood is plen¬ 
tiful in your district, and can be had at little beyond the cost of cutting, the 
best thing to do would be to make some fires, and when strong enough dig 
soil from around them and place on to be scorched. This would not only 
extirpate the grubs but would be of greater benefit to the soil than a heavy 
dressing of manure. Failing your ability to act as suggested we should 
use gaslime, fresh and strong, at the rate of half a ton to the acre, carefully 
digging it in and mixing it with the soil, not merely burying it m layers in 
the trenches formed in digging. This may be done now, and the sooner the 
better with land that is quite vacant, but not half that quantity must be 
applied to land that is cropped or within three months of sowing 
or planting. Either in addition to that dressing or independently ofil 
1 ordinary freshly slaked lime may be pointed into the soil in spring, shortly 
