August 24,1882. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 185 
Shade only to prevent flagging. Liberal attention must be given the 
autumn-fruiting plants just placed out, adding a little fresh soil as 
the roots advance, maintaining a firm condition of the bed. In pits 
and frames be careful not to overcrowd the foliage, removing all 
spotted and bad leaves. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Orchids .—The weather becoming cooler and the sun less powerful 
the East India house must be kept moderately close. In dull weather 
less moisture will be needed, and recourse must be had to fire heat to 
maintain a temperature of 75° by day and 65^ at night. The house 
should be damped and blocks, Ac., syringed by three o’clock, withdraw¬ 
ing the shading as soon as all danger of the sun scorching the foliage is 
past. Aerides, Phalrenopsis, Saccolabiums, and Yandas should receive 
every encouragement to growth, as any check will cause short leaf- 
growth and spoil the appearance of the plants. Phalaenopsis grown 
in pots or baskets must not have the sphagnum made sodden, or the 
roots will perish and the leaves become diseased. Dispense with 
shading on the Cattleya house altogether, light being of the greatest 
importance for the proper ripening of all pseudo-bulbs. Barkerias, 
Cattleyas, Dendrobiums, Epidendrums, Oncidiums, and many others 
if not properly ripened will produce weak flowers, followed by a 
weakly growth. Vigorous Cattleyas frequently start a second growth 
before the first is completed, in which case the plant should be 
encouraged to complete its growth as soon as possible. As flowers 
are now becoming scarce, it is necessary to keep them free from 
damp so as to preserve them as long as possible, they being most 
affected when suspended too close to the glass. Cattleya crispa, 
C. Harrisoni, C. labiata, C. maxima, and the guttata type will flower 
from now up to October. Calanthe Masuca and C. veratrifolia may 
be repotted. If the soil has become sour they should be carefully 
shaken out, washing the roots in tepid water, and repot in a compost 
of equal parts of turfy loam and peat, adding a little decayed manure 
and pieces of charcoal about the size of nuts, all well mixed, giving 
about 2 inches of drainage, and the plants kept about an inch below 
the top of the pot. 
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EFFECTS OF COLD AND THE CONSUMPTION OF 
FOOD. 
How it comes that doctors differ in their opinion on points 
easily settled is a question rather difficult to answer. A few 
weeks ago I gave reasons, sound and substantial in my opinion, 
for differing from the views of Dr. Dzierzon on questions touching 
the power of the bee-keeper in prolonging the lives of queen bees, 
the power of queens over their own fertility, and what caused the 
loss of so many bees during the working season. On page 137 
we have, through the kindness of Mr. Alfred Neighbour, the 
opinions of Dr. Dzierzon on other questions of importance. He 
says, “ The milder the winter the more complete will be the re¬ 
pose of the bees, and the lower will they be able to allow the 
temperature to become even when they have their winter quarters, 
whilst increasing cold stimulates them to breathe more frequently 
and to consume more food ; in other words, it stimulates their 
vital powers to greater activity in order to be able to offer the 
necessary resistance to cold in winter. 
Theory and experience, as well as the last mild winter, demon¬ 
strate to me practically the fallacy of this opinion. Exposure of 
the bees to extreme cold certainly causes them to crowd together 
into as thick a cluster as possible, but it does not send them into 
a sleep-like state of repose ; on the contrary, it startles them out 
of their rest, compelling them to hum more loudly, while pre¬ 
viously they were in perfectly silent repose. Nor doe3 severe 
cold prevent premature breeding. There is generally more brood 
to be found in the hive in January and February, when the 
weather is very cold or after the temperature has been very low, 
than during a continuance of mild weather. Dr. Krasicke acknow¬ 
ledges this fact, but explains it in a peculiar manner by saying, 
“ that because bees consume more food when temperature is low 
the production of chyle would also be greater.” All this and 
more than this seems to me to be no more than theory and specu¬ 
lation, and not supported by facts or experience. 
My own experience, extending over a period of fifty years, and 
the experience of many practical and observing bee-keepers, go 
quite in an opposite direction, and prove that the colder the 
winter or weather is the less honey is consumed by bees, and 
this stands to reason as well as experience. In cold winters bees 
sit closely together for weeks and hardly move. There is in such 
seasons little waste and wear, and little food is required to make 
good the waste. In warm winters there may be heard a hum 
night and day in good hives—the bees set loosely together, move 
about amongst one another, and often take outdoor exercise. 
The waste of body is greater, and a greater quantity of food i 3 
required and eaten to make good the waste. 
The last warm winter is referred to by Dr. Dzierzon in support 
of his new theory. English bee-keepers know that during the 
last open winter the consumption of food was great—unusually 
great, and hives were unusually light in the spring months of 
this year. That bees consume much more food in warm winters 
than they do in cold ones is a fact well known long ago, and 
every year’s experience confirms it. This theory of Dr. Dzierzon 
reminds me of the strange notion of a Swiss clergyman, who 
boldly stated that two swarms of bees united do not eat more in 
winter than each of the swarms would do if kept separate. This 
was received as the truth by a large circle of apiarians, some of 
whom tried to explain it on scientific principles. Of course they 
failed, and when told years afterwards that ten thousand bees 
required twice as much food as five thousand, they believed this 
and said no more about the discovery of the Swiss clergyman. 
If bees eat more food and breed sooner in a cold house and in 
a cold winter than they do in a warm house and winter, the 
system of contracting space in bar-framed hives cannot be too 
soon abandoned and condemned, and hives with cavity walls are 
quite a mistake if Dr. Dzierzon’s views are correct. 
In all attempts to manage bees successfully apiarians should 
try to keep step with the laws of Nature as nearly as possible. 
In Great Britain some winters are too severe for bees ; in America 
almost all winters are. Where bees came from to this country 
I cannot tell, but evidently they are natives of a warmer climate 
than ours, and need often a little artificial treatment here—viz., 
protection from cold and wet, and need some feeding. By cover¬ 
ing hives well during the winters no bee-keeper need be afraid of 
losing his hives in this country by frost, and if the coverings be 
kept on during the spring months his bees will breed sooner 
and faster than they would do in hives not so well and warmly 
covered. All this has been proved again and again, and let those 
of doubtful mind put the matter to the test next winter and 
spring, and they will lose all doubts on this point. But as we 
have stated, warmth and motion go hand in hand, and cause a 
greater consumption of food in hives to make up the wear and 
waste of motion. All this stands to reason, and reason will yet 
prevail.— A. Pettigrew. 
COMB FOUNDATION v. FEEDING BEES. 
In your issue of the 17th inst., in an article referring to the 
autumn treatment of bees, Mr. Pettigrew makes the following 
suggestion :—“ Let others try the experiment of putting two 
swarms separately into empty hives. Let one of the hives have 
1 lb. of the brood foundation, and the other 10 lb3. of sugar made 
into syrup. Let all the syrup be given to the hive in seven days. 
Then examine both and see which is the better, which has most 
perfect comb, which the heavier of the two.” According to my 
experience, if you were to give the hive with the 1 lb. of foun¬ 
dation 10 lbs. and the other 20 lbs. of sugar made into syrup, and 
then examine them at the end of seven days, I think you will 
find the one with 1 lb. of foundation to have the most perfect 
comb. On the 3rd of June last I bad a large swarm, which I put 
into a 9-bar-frame hive with 6 inches of foundation to each frame. 
Three days afterwards, wishing to put in a Ligurian queen, I was 
surprised to see every foundation worked out into a perfect comb, 
and at the end of seven days every frame was filled. I have now 
a very strong stock of yellow bees, and there is scarcely a black 
one to be seen in the hive, although the swarm weighed 7£ lbs. 
I ought to have mentioned that the first and second night after 
swarming I gave them 1^ lb. of syrup, but none afterwards.—M. 
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION. 
We have much pleasure in publishing the prize list of the eighth 
annual Exhibition of this flourishing Association, held at the Koyal 
Horticultural Society’s Gardens at South Kensington on August 3rd, 
4th, 5th, 7th, and 8th, and regret the delay which has arisen in conse¬ 
quence of the illness of our reporter, whose notes on the several 
classes shall appear in a future issue, together, we hope, with the 
class lists of the successful candidates for the diploma of the Associa- 
