848 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 16, If SO. 
old before they became prolific.” My nuclei at present have more 
bees than any of my unswarmed stocks, and such stocks never fail 
to give the greatest satisfaction provided care be taken to prevent 
an excess of drone comb. 
Punic Bees. 
These are still active and are giving satisfaction as good workers. 
I can detect no difference in the quality of their honey, but can in 
their combs. They are completely and compactly filled and sealed, 
and should this be a permanent feature in their habits, will add to 
their value. 
Bees from Imported Queens. 
Some have been sent me by “ A Hallamshire Bee-keeper,” and 
appear very attractive bees ; they were lively and of a rich dark 
plum colour, and while they seem quiet to their owners are 
determined in keeping robbers from their hives. I liberated two 
in the presence of several bee-keeping gentlemen in a restaurant in 
Glasgow. A bee was caught by each person and placed beneath a 
glass, when instantly the bees pounced at each other, and quick as 
thought one stung the other to death much in the same manner as 
queens do. This is also a lesson worth remembering when intro¬ 
ducing queens and joining bees from two different stocks. The 
old method of sprinkling two lots of bees with peameal is a good 
plan, and quiets the bees, but if the day is chilly the practice is 
bad, as the bees may be chilled before their toilet is completed. 
Feeding the two lots of bees with one honey and locating them on 
frames from one hive, caging the queen to be preserved, and leaving 
both queenless for a time, is a certain and safe plan. If two lots 
are gorged with honey they may be shaken together quickly, and 
this is a speedy and safe method. When any odour can be con¬ 
veyed to any bee that also has a good effect, but often some of the 
bees do not catch the odour, hence fighting begins, and in many 
cases continues, and not unfrequently the queen is killed or 
maimed. The great object of the bee-keeper is to prevent robbing 
or fighting, or exciting the bees in any way. 
Maimed Queens. 
Maimed or mutilated queens seldom survive the spring, or if 
they do so are rarely prolific enough to be profitable. The same 
may be said of those that have been exposed to extreme cold and 
dampness. The latter and exhausted queens are those that le ave 
their hives in spring, termed “ hunger swarms.” 
Queenless Hives. 
I predicted some months since that there would be a large per¬ 
centage of queenless hives or hives having unfertile queens, and this 
is now being verified. In several apiaries fifty per cent, of the hives 
are either queenless or having unfertilised queens, and in every case 
where queens were older than one year the loss is greatest. Bee¬ 
keepers should make sure before it is too late that the queens are 
all healthy, and likely to continue laying until next May or June. 
After that young queens should supersede every old one, and no 
stimulative feeding should be given to queens of an older date 
than those of 1890. Leave all such until next season. 
Stimulative Feeding. 
The supposition that driblet feeding is effectual in forwarding 
bees is a delusion. In an apiary situated but a few yards from my 
own where driblet feeding was carried on all the summer, the bees 
do little more yet than half fill the body of the hive, while those 
in my own apiary having plenty of stores are strong. 
Moving Hives. 
Modern bee-keepers are beginning to discover that the old 
system of moving bees from one place to another, as the flora of the 
district invites, is more profitable than keeping the bees pent up in 
the home garden the whole year. They are also finding that the 
hives commonly in use are ill-adapted for the requirements of the 
bee-keeper, and are too unwieldy for moving about from one place 
to another to be easily managed or profitable. 
The Standard Hive. 
This has already lost favour because of the introduction of two 
sizes of frames for one hive, necessitated through the discovery 
that the so-called standard hive was too small for bee husbandry, a 
mistake every practical bee-keeper saw from the first. Then the 
make of the hive disallows bees to be moved about with profit, and 
the double casing, which prevents the thorough evaporation of the 
moisture from the interior of the hive, hastens decay, and is 
inimical in every respect to the well-being of the bees and pro¬ 
duction of honey. 
Outside Cases. 
These are far superior to double cased hives, but they have a 
grave fault—viz., when the hive is removed the cases stand in the 
way as so much lumber, whereas the wrappings with outer oilcloths 
accompany the hive at all times, and they may be taken to every 
place ; while, when at home, the curved sheet of galvanised 
iron as a roof and porch, are a thorough protection from external 
moisture, and no annual painting is required, as is the case with 
double cases, or outside cases. It is not because I despise neatness 
and attractiveness in the apiary that I discourage these things, but 
because it is neither economical nor justifiable to carryout a system 
prejudicial to the bee and unprofitable to the bee-keeper. The 
style of bee-hive architecture has been carried beyond the limits of 
usefulness, and entirely at variance to the requirements of the 
bees and their owners. The successes of so many of our pupils this 
year, while those near them working upon a different system with 
not a pound of surplus honey, will perhaps convince them that the 
los3 in a good season will be in proportion to the present year’s 
success and non-success of the two methods. —A Lanarkshire 
Bee-keeper. 
All correspondence 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 write privately 
to any of our correspondents, as doing so subjects them to 
unjustifiable trouble and expense. 
China Roses (T. F. IF.).—We received a box half full of petals, 
not one bloom. This was in consequence of no suitable packing being 
used, such as damp moss, or green grass, or leaves. The Rose is either 
Cramoisie Superieure or Fabvier, we cannot tell which ; but you cannot 
err in planting both these most richly coloured of all China Roses. 
Raspberries Unsatisfactory {F. J .).—In some soils Raspberries 
do not thrive, those which are very strong, cold, and wet, and others 
which are thin and dry being alike unsuitable. Even in good soils some 
persons have found it difficult to establish productive Raspberry planta¬ 
tions, mainly through a mistake made at the outset in not shortening 
the canes to within a foot or less of the ground when planting, or 
shortly afterwards, before they make their first season’s growth. Long 
canes with few roots are planted, and the canes left their entire length, 
or nearly so, for fruiting. They may produce a few fruits, but this 
exhausts the plants so much that the roots become almost paralysed, 
and the suckers few and weak. This check at the outset often affects 
the plants for years. You will find the right method of procedure 
figured in the Fruiterers’ Company’s prize essay on “ Profitable Fruit 
Growing,” the second edition of which is now being issued from this 
office, Is. 3d., post free. Carter’s Prolific is a free and sturdy grower 
and scores of acres of it may be seen in the fields in Kent as fully ex¬ 
posed to the sun as your garden can be, but all the same, Raspberries 
grow well in partial shade. Rivers’ Hornet, Superlative, Baumforth 
Seedling, and Prince of Wales are taller growers. It is not a good 
plan to dig deeply among Raspberries, but strong soils especially 
should be pointed over. Partially decayed manure and vegetable refuse 
are good for spreading on the surface when the plantations are put 
in order, and should be left to decay. Not knowing the nature of the 
soil of your garden, we cannot give a more definite reply. 
Cellini Apple {Idem ).—This is classed as a culinary Apple in the 
essay above referred to, also by Dr. Hogg in the “ Fruit Manual,” where 
it is described as of the “ first quality.” Many persons consider the 
quality good enough to entitle it to rank as a dessert variety. It is, 
like the Blenheim Pippin, used both for culinary and dessert purposes, 
and therefore exhibited in both culinary and dessert classes. Unfor¬ 
tunately the trees are liable to canker, and though they bear early and 
freely they seldom remain healthy and productive for many years. 
Crape Wine {J. 2?.).—A very good wine can be made from Grapes 
