20 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July 1, 1880. 
FOUNDATION FIXERS. 
A correspondent requests me to try osiers or split osiers 
instead of wires, suggesting that the latter with soldered pins are 
quite beyond the reach of cottagers, while the pins could be stuck 
through the osier sticks. He asks in conclusion that I may give 
the results in the Journal of Horticulture. In reply, I have 
already tried an equivalent to osiers, using Venetian blind lath 
split into narrow strips with a gauge cutter. These answer per¬ 
fectly, but require fixing top and bottom. Osier sticks would no 
doubt succeed as well or nearly as well, their disadvantages con¬ 
sisting in their being soft and not perfectly straight. The best 
way to make these is to take a piece of wood the thickness of 
which is equal to the length of the pins when cut off. Bore holes 
in this wood at the distance the pins are to be from each other. 
Lay your little stick or osier over the holes, and drive your pins 
through it down to the head, and through the made holes in the 
wood beneath. Cut your pins off on the other side with cutting 
pliers, for which old scissors may be made to do duty, when the 
pins will be of uniform length. This plan for cutting the pins will 
answer if wire and solder be used instead of wood.—F. Cheshire, 
Avenue House, Acton , W. 
PREVENTING EXCESSIVE SWARMING. 
My great object this year has been to keep my apiary within 
bounds, and I am happy to say I have in a great measure suc¬ 
ceeded. Thus far I have had but one natural swarm, while I have 
greatly strengthened my weak hives by the method of treatment 
adopted. I do not say that in every case or in every year this 
method of proceeding can be carried out, but under circumstances 
similar to my own it may be found as serviceable to others as it 
has proved to me. I therefore give my experience in detail for 
the benefit of those who may find themselves in a similar position. 
I must premise that almost for the first time in my experience 
as a bee-keeper every stock with which I entered the winter came 
out of it healthy and active. Not one of them, however, was very 
strong, and not a few were very weak owing to the great dearth 
of breeding vigour and the absence of suitable weather for pollen¬ 
gathering in the autumn. Still, I never had a healthier set of 
bees at the beginning of March. By dint of great attention to 
feeding where necessary, supplying them with artificial pollen 
and other precautions, several of my stocks became strong enough 
by the beginning of June to allow of artificial swarms being taken 
from them. They had completely filled their boxes with brood 
and were working in supers. Every bee that could possibly be 
induced to flit was added to the swarms, which therefore were of 
considerable weight. These I sent off by rail to various parts 
of the country. 
By this means I was enabled to strengthen liberally several of 
my weak stocks, although these were fast recovering lost ground. 
The empty boxes with their abundant brood combs were set either 
under or over the stocks as circumstances dictated. In a few days 
such a quantity of brood was hatched out that I was able to drive 
again and strengthen other stocks. By this means I have con¬ 
trived to bring my whole apiary so forward that, without any 
apparent check to progress, I have no single hive which does not 
give me hope of a fair amount of honey in the great July harvest 
now fast approaching. Among other advantages I was able to 
give a splendid box full of brood comb to my one swarm. It is 
now working in two supers, and I see no sign of royal cells yet 
constructing. From the box out of which it swarmed I am ex¬ 
pecting a second swarm in a few days, although, as it was shifted 
to a new stand according to my invariable custom, it lost nearly 
all its adult bees, which found their way to the swarm in the old 
place. 
The season thus far has been very fine. If my bees had been 
in their usual strength in May we should have harvested here 
a fair quantity of apple and other fruit-blossom honey. As it 
is, the hives are well supplied, and I have some good combs in 
sectional supers. At present the bean fields are m splendid 
blossom, and the white clover is full of promise. There is hope, 
therefore, of work for our apicultural societies, and an impetus 
will be given to bee-keeping such as it greatly needs.—B. & W. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Buttercups on Pastures i W. Brae-f ).— 1 These cannot be destroyed unless 
the turf is burnt, the land being broken up, cultivated for several years, and laid 
down to pasture again. Even then they will come again after a few years, be¬ 
cause where they are usually found they are indigenous to the soil. When the 
pasture is cut for hay they cannot be separated from the hay, but when cattle 
feed on the grass as soon as the plants are high enough the blossoms may be cut 
off with the scythe. This is quite necessary to prevent the plants producing 
seed, also to prevent injury to butter, as the buttercups are very bitter and spoil 
the flavour, but if the milk is sold for immediate use it will not perceptibly 
injure it. We have not tried the new weed-eradicating machine, but it would 
probably answer by pulling off the flower and seed heads where the grass is fed 
off, but not when cut for hay. 
Transferring Bees —Removal of Hive — American Mode 
(S. 17.).—We have always thought that the recommendation to transfer twenty- 
one days after swarming has been founded upon a superficial understanding of 
the matter. The new queen usually leaves her cell eight days after the departure 
of her mother with the swarm, while she often, indeed generally, obtains fertilisa¬ 
tion at seven days old ; but this time is liable to considerable extension, the eight 
days even reaching fourteen, and the seven, twenty-one. We are then, at the time 
proposed, likely to be at work when the young queen is seeking a mate, thus 
making her loss nearly certain, and in this case our hive must sustain damage or 
even ruin if we are not attentive. The absence of brood at twenty-one days after 
swarming is helpful, but honey has generally taken its place, making the combs 
even heavier and quite as difficult to handle. If the weather has been hot and bright 
generally since the swarm left, twenty-four days after would be practically safe. 
The nearness of the old stock to your apiary (half a mile) is the real difficulty, 
and the removal will be nearly sure to involve some loss. It has been lately 
stated at a convention of American bee-keepers that if a piece of wood several 
inches square be stood up in front of the hive’s mouth, leaving room between it 
and the hive for the bees to leave and re-enter, and so kept for several days, that 
the hive may be then removed even a few yards, and the wood taken away with 
a certainty that the bees will keep to the new stand. The explanation given 
is that the wood makes the hive dark within, that its removal admits light which 
warns the bees before they fly out that some change has taken place. This 
causes them to mark their location and return to it. The idea is new, and we 
have not had time to try it. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lat. 51°32'40" N.; Long. 0° 8'0" W.: Altitude,111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
1880. 
o*- 
p eo a* <d 
c GO > 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
S . 
.©'d 
o —< 
Temp, of 
Soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Rain. 
1 
June. 
03 ft 
m2 § 
Dry. 
Wet. 
2m 
So 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass. 
Sun. 20 
Inches. 
29.610 
deg. 
62.2 
deg. 
59.0 
E. 
deg. 
58.4 
deg. 
79.2 
deg. 
55.8 
deg. 
121.4 
deg. 
52.4 
In. 
Mon. 21 
29.670 
64.6 
57.3 
E. 
58.3 
74.8 
52.3 
125.3 
48.4 
— 
Tues. 22 
29.728 
59.8 
56.0 
N.E. 
59.1 
65.3 
54.7 
102.5 
50.3 
0.043 
Wed. 23 
29.759 
61.7 
58.0 
N.W. 
58.5 
72.0 
53.5 
124.0 
48.2 
— 
Tlmrs. 21 
29.729 
63.7 
58.2 
N. 
58.9 
75.0 
53.4 
125.9 
49.8 
0.091 
Friday 25 
29.835 
63.2 
58.3 
N. 
59.6 
73.4 
52.6 
124.0 
49.7 
1.126 
Satur. 26 
29.869 
61.2 
58.4 
N.N.E. 
59.9 
70.5 
52.3 
108.4 
49.6 
0.931 
Means. 
29.743 
62.3 
57.9 
59.0 
71.6 
53.5 
118.8 
49.8 
2.191 
REMARKS. 
20th.—Rain in early morning, damp and misty till noon, fine afternoon and 
evening. 
21st.—Very fine, calm, and bright sunshine the whole day. 
22nd.—Damp, misty, and dark morning; fair but cloudy all day, with just a 
gleam of sunshine; rain in evening. 
23rd.—Bright in early morning, dull towards noon, with intervals of sunshine in 
afternoon, thunder 5.10 P.M., fine evening. 
24th.—Fine and bright until 3.30 P.M., very overcast -with lightning and thunder 
5.20 till 5.40 P.M., sharp breeze and heavy rain at 5.30 P.M., rain in evening. 
25th.—Very fine and bright until 4 P.M., dark with heavy clouds, lightning and 
thunder 4.10 till 5.30 P.M., very heavy rain 4.45 to 7.15 p.M. 
26th.—Damp, close, morning, showers before noon ; heavy thunderstorm com¬ 
menced at 2.20 P.M. lasting till 3.20, nearly nine-tenths of an inch of rain 
in the hour ; slight showers in evening. 
Warmer, with heavy thunderstorm rains on two consecutive days.—G. J. 
Symons. 
COVENT GARDEN MARKET.—JUNE 30. 
The Market continues to be well supplied, Strawberries and other small fruit 
arriving in very large quantities. 
FRUIT. 
s. 
d. 
9. 
d. 
9. 
d. 
9. 
d. 
Apples. 
} sieve 
2 
6 to 4 
6 
Nectarines.. 
dozen 
8 
Ot0l2 
0 
Apricots. 
box 
i 
0 
2 
6 
Oranges .... 
IP100 
4 
0 
12 
0 
Cherries. 
box 
i 
6 
2 
6 
Peaches .... 
dozen 12 
0 
18 
0 
Chestnuts. 
bushel 12 
0 
16 
0 
Pears,kitchen .. 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Figs. 
dozen 10 
0 
12 
0 
dessert .... 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Filberts. 
4?- lb. 
0 
0 
1 
0 
Pine Apples 
w lb 
1 
0 
3 
0 
Cobs. 
W lb 
0 
0 
1 
0 
Piums . 
i sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Gooseberries .... 
i sieve 
6 
0 
8 
0 
Ra-pberries 
.... 
IPtb. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Grapes, hothouse 
V lb 
2 
6 
6 
0 
Strawberries 
. , . , 
IP oz. 
0 
4 
0 
c 
Lemons. 
ifnoo 
6 
0 
10 
0 
Walnuts ... 
bushel 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Melons . 
each 
3 
6 
6 
0 
ditto . 
IP 100 
0 
0 
0 
0 
VEGETABLES. 
s. 
d. 
S. 
d. 
s. 
d. 
9. 
d. 
2 
0 
Mushrooms 
pottle 
I 
0 to 1 
9 
Asparagus. 
bundle 
i 
6 
5 
0 
Mustard & Cress.. 
punnet 
0 
2 
0 
3 
Beans,Kidney.... 
100 
1 
0 
0 
0 
Onions. 
bushel 
3 
6 
6 
0 
Beet, Red. 
dozen 
i 
0 
2 
0 
pickling .. 
quart 
0 
0 
0 
9 
Broccoli. 
bundle 
0 
9 
1 
6 
Parsley. 
doz. bunches 
6 
0 
0 
0 
BrusselsJSprouts.. 
J sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Parsnips .... 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Cabbage. 
dozen 
i 
6 
2 
0 
Peas . 
quart 
2 
6 
3 
0 
Carrots. 
bunch 
0 
4 
0 
6 
Potatoes .... 
bushel 
3 
9 
4 
0 
y 100 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Kidney.... 
bushel 
4 
0 
0 
0 
Cauliflowers. 
dozen 
0 
0 
3 
6 
Radishes.... 
doz.bunches 
i 
6 
2 
6 
Celery . 
bundle 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Rhubarb_ 
bundle 
0 
4 
O 
0 
Coleworts_doz. bunches 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Salsafy. 
bundle 
1 
0 
0 
0 
Cucumbers. 
each 
0 
4 
0 
6 
Scorzonera s'. 
bundle 
1 
6 
0 
0 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Seakale . 
basket 
0 
0 
0 
0 
FonnelJ. 
bunch 
0 
3 
0 
0 
Shallots. 
IPlb 
0 
8 
0 
0 
Garlic . 
V lb. 
0 
6 
0 
0 
Spinach .... 
bushel 
8 
0 
0 
0 
Herbs . 
bunch 
o 
2 
0 
0 
T\imins 
bunch 
0 
4 
0 
0 
Leeks. 
bunch 
0 
0 
4 
Vegetable Marrows 
each 
0 
• 
0 
• 
