December 28, 1882. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
599 
admits, keeping them well supplied with tepid liquid manure, and 
earthing up those sufficiently advanced. 
The early stores of Lettuces and Endive must he frequently 
examined, removing all decayed matter. During favourable weather 
ventilate freely, but during severe weather cover them securely, 
and keep them in the dark, or do not uncover so long as the severe 
weather continues. Cauliflowers and young Lettuce plants in frames 
or handlights must be frequently examined for the removal of decayed 
foliage, dressing the surface, and stirring the soil between the 
plants. 
FRUIT HOUSES. 
Peaches and Nectarines .—In the earliest house the flowering has 
already commenced. This degree of forwardness may not yet be 
attained by trees which have not been forced early in former years, 
and in this case it is not advisable to push them hard, but let the 
same conditions prevail as were indicated in our last calendar. When 
the flowers begin to expand maintain 50° at night, falling a few 
degrees when the weather is severe. Raise the temperature early in 
the day to 55°, and keep it between that and 60° during the day, the 
latter not being exceeded by fire heat alone ; and this should be 
accompanied by a circulation of the air in the house, opening the top 
ventilators a little at 55°; and as the temperature advances gradually 
increase the ventilation, having a free circulation top and bottom at 
G5°, closing for the day at 60°. Damp the surfaces in the house 
twice a day, ceasing to syringe the trees after the flowers expand, 
and leave a little air on at the top of the house constantly to 
prevent the atmosphere becoming stagnant. Dust the flowers with a 
camel’s-hair brush when the day is fine and the house well ventilated 
to insure fertilisation. As the setting period during the dullest time 
of year is the most important throughout the whole process, the 
greatest care should be given to the requirements at that season. 
The house containing trees intended to afford ripe fruit in June of 
such varieties as Royal George and Grosse Mignonne Peaches, Lord 
Napier and Elruge Nectarines, should now be closed. The inside 
border should have a thorough soaking with water at a temperature 
of 75°, and the outside border protected with a good thickness of dry 
leaves or fern. Syringe the trees and available surfaces in the 
morning and in the afternoon, so as to have the trees fairly dry before 
night. Ventilate freely from and above 50°, at which close the house, 
and employ fire heat only to prevent the temperature falling much 
below 40° at night. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Forcing House .—In order to keep pace with the increased demand 
for flowers which prevails in most establishments almost every house 
is required. Stoves are crammed to the injury of the permanent 
occupants ; and though numbers can be brought into bloom there, 
they are not nearly so good for decorative purposes as those for¬ 
warded in a house where the forcing is more gradual. A light airy 
house with beds for holding fermenting materials for bottom heat is 
a great aid in very early forcing, and if it have a partition so as to 
allow of one lot of plants being brought forward to succeed the 
other, and so on, the succession will be maintained with regularity. 
For most hardy plants 50° to 55° at night and 60° to 65° by day will 
be a suitable temperature after being kept in a house for a fortnight 
or three weeks in a temperature of 40° to 45° at night and 50° to 55° 
by day. Forcing hardy plants is much accelerated by syringing 
them in the morning and afternoon of fine days. Shelves should be 
provided so that Hyacinths, Narcissus, and Tulips will be near to the 
glass. 
It is hardly necessary to direct attention to the many very beau¬ 
tiful plants that by gentle forcing contribute to the supply of cut 
flowers and plants for general decorative purposes. Foremost come 
Lily of the Valley, early in the season requires bottom heat. Lilac is 
indispensable. Deutzia gracilis is very graceful and effective, but is 
being rivalled by Staphylea colchica. The old Viburnum Opulus, or 
Guelder Rose, and the lovely Laburnum, with Wistaria sinensis, are a 
trio too seldom seen forced. Spirma Thunbergii may be mentioned as 
a very graceful white-flowering plant. Clematises such as Miss Bate¬ 
man, Fair Rosamond, The Queen, Albert Victor, Mrs. S. Baker, Vesta, 
Stella, Lord Londesborough, and Sir Garnet Wolseley, are charming. 
Then there are Rhododendrons, with large heads of flower from the 
purest white to glowing crimson. Azalea pontica of the richest 
yellow and sweetest fragrance, the Ghent varieties being very beau¬ 
tiful. The Azalea mollis vars. force easily and have large trusses, 
being also very floriferous and very effective for any purpose. The 
Double Plum (Prunus sinensis alba flore pleno) is also useful, and the 
chaste Kalmia latifolia is always admired. Sweet Briar is always 
appreciated for its perfume. Hoteia japonica is not only an elegant 
and graceful plant, but its large white feathery inflorescence is very 
effective, and Dielytra spectabilis is a very graceful plant and useful 
for vases. 
"I ** 1 •'! » f •' r: | . i . i - f rr. | r*T. i .rrrr n 
HE BEE-KEEPER. I 
THE ART OF BEE-KEEPING.—No. 5. 
( Continued from page 535.') 
THE DRONE. 
The drones are the males of the colony, of which the queen and 
workers are the females, and they seem to be almost useless except 
for the purpose of fertilisation. As already observed, this takes 
place while the queens are on the wing, and is of such potency that 
the queen is rendered fertile for life. The limited observations 
seem to indicate that the drone dies immediately after mating. We 
know for certain that he leaves a mark of fertilisation, which 
any bee-keeper may observe who watches his young queens re¬ 
turning from their wedding flight. As queens are only reared by 
colonies in a normal state during the summer, drones are only pro¬ 
duced during that season, and are starved to death or driven forth 
to die at the close of the honey season. The appearance of drones 
at other times thus indicates some abnormal condition of things— 
viz., a queenless stock, or the presence of an unfertilised or decrepit 
queen or fertile worker. 
According to the Dzierzon theory, which is generally held to be 
correct, drones follow the race of their mother without respect to 
the nature of her alliance. Thus an Italian queen mated with an 
English drone will always produce pure Italian drones, though she 
produces mixed workers. This fact must be borne in mind by all 
who attempt to improve the race of bees by the introduction of 
foreign blood. For average bee-keepers, however, whose great aim 
is honey, the only concern in regard to drones is how to limit their 
production so as to be certain of reaping their one advantage with¬ 
out at the same time creating a host of useless mouths, at a great 
expense to the colony. And just here we must cross the ideas of 
those who cry out for a purely natural system of bee-keeping. In 
a state of nature one could never expect to find even two colonies 
within a yard of each other, or a score of them within the limits of 
a small garden. Let us suppose we should find one in every square 
mile —quite a liberal allowance. 'To make certain of a young queen 
meeting a mate during her short and rapid flights of a few minutes 
at a time, we should expect a colony in such circumstances to pro¬ 
duce a large number of drones, and so it does. But when we crowd 
a country with hives so that dozens or even hundreds are found 
within a square mile, we are under no necessity for increasing the 
number of drones in like proportion. If those of a single hive were 
sufficient in a state of nature to patrol the whole neighbourhood they 
may be regarded as nearly sufficient still. And further, the pro¬ 
duction of drones is at great expense to the colony—they are gross 
feeders both in the grub and perfect state, and they bring nothing 
in. Drone traps, therefore, do not meet the case; prevention rather 
than cure is wanted. This we effect by the liberal use of worker- 
comb foundation, using sheets so nearly filling the frames that at 
most only a few dozens of drone cells can be built round their edges. 
Absolute restriction of drone comb is not advisable, especially where 
supering is resorted to, as in that case the queen in the exercise of a 
natural impulse to produce drone eggs will most probably deposit 
those in the supers and thus spoil their combs. It is observable, 
besides, that there is a vivacity and industry about hives that have 
a fair proportion of drones buzzing and bustling about their door¬ 
ways, which is often wanting in those having no drones. On the 
whole we consider that we meet the case sufficiently by having, say, 
50 out of the 1000 inches of comb in a standard hive with drone 
cells ; a number sufficient for the production of four hundred drones 
every twenty-four days, which is the time required for the hatching 
of perfect drones from the egg. And we so arrange the combs that 
the drone brood is confined to the outside ones. Where early drones 
are wanted for breeding purposes we can usually obtain them by 
¥ 
