192 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August !6, 1886. 
The bees of every hive were more or less bewildered, the Carni- 
olians very much so on their return from the fields. The outside 
case of one of the list named I removed 12 feet, where two hive3 
intervened; both bees and drones of that hive flew in great 
numbers to the case, and a considerable time elapsed before they 
entered their hive. The Carniolians are peculiar in that respect, 
and care should be exercised never to alter their site, aspect, 
nor surrounding appearances, especially during chilly weather. 
The Carniolians are shy to enter a strange hive, tenanted or 
untenanted, but not so with the Cyprian or Syrian races. These 
bees will not suffer those of other varieties to enter their hive, 
but will, without ceremony when occasion fits, enter other hives 
and joiu in their labours with little or no concern as if it were 
their own hive, and very often meet with no molestation from 
those they would have killed had they attempted to enter their 
hive. 
There is a great difference in the nature of the different races 
of bees, both in their temper and in the mode of carrying on the 
internal economy of their hive. I was especially and forcibly 
struck with this in the case of some Syrians this year. It is 
well known that I am not favourable to placing empty supers 
between the stook hive and a partly filled super. With most 
bees it is a mistake, but with the Syrians it is a decided failure, 
so much so that I will not try it again with them nor any others, 
I did it this year simply to show other bee-keepers that more 
weight would be made by hives having the empty supers placed 
above, but I did not expect that storing would cease altogether 
as it did with those I experimented on. There are other pecu¬ 
liarities about these bees which I may explain again, but may 
say the hive best adapted for them is the Stewarton. 
Bees as a rule all round here have not given much surplus 
honey. If we could only depend on having six weeks’ fine weather 
during the year—three weeks in June and July, and three weeks 
in August and September, the flora of Great Britain is suffi¬ 
cient to yield honey, which would be profitable to bee-keepers 
although it were sold at Id. per 1Y 
The Heather looks fairly well this year, although a little 
later than the average of years ; and if winter would only be as 
late in appearing as the summer has been, and two weeks genial 
weather come now, we should have a fair harvest of Heather 
honey, but the weather keeps stormy and cold. The barometer 
has been low for nearly six weeks now, and the prospect is not 
very reassuring. 
Many bee keepers are this year taking advantage of the 
Heather by taking their bees to the moors that never did so 
before, and the practice is likely to become more common every 
year. The great drawback is the want of organisation amongst 
themselves, and not having hives adapted for the purpose. 
Hives nearly 3 feet long by 2 feet wide may please the inventors, 
but will never be in repute for bee keeping in general. Instead 
of occupying nearly 6 feet o': space, as some do, my hives only 
occupy 1 foot 9 inches. The mouthpiece has only to be run in, 
the ventilator opened, and they are ready for the road. The 
divisions are held together with brass clasps, the supers by clasps 
of hoop iron, four screw nails being sufficient to make them 
rigid. An Archangel mat is sufficient to protect the body of the 
hive. Some woollen cloth or meadow hay to keep the supers 
warm and a sheet of galvanised iron bent over the top keeps all 
dry, and affords desirable shade if the sun is hot. Thus equipped, 
which takes but a few minutes, the hives are safe. A few seconds 
more the alighting board, which is hinged, is folded down, and 
the ladder attached, a pull at the doorway, out stream the bees, 
and in five minutes more they are returning to the hive loaded 
with honey and pellets of pollen. After all are released I keep 
a watch over their movemen s to make sure nothing is wrong, 
thereafter I take a short stroll amongst the Heather and by the 
river side, its little tributaries affording the sweetest refreshment 
and a greater blessing than any that man ever invented. I 
return to my bees cooled and refreshed from Nature’s fountain, 
and with double pleasure view the industrious bees flitting in the 
sunshine. A stone dyke separates my hives from a number of 
others, and I will give the results at the close of the season.— 
A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
BEES DYING IN SUPERS. 
Many thanks f r your kind reply about my bees dying in the super. 
First, I keep my bees in a warm thatched bee-house, which I have used 
for many years. The glass in the boxes has a lid <ra hinges to fit over it 
flush with the frame of the wood hive, and is quite dark. The glass in 
the other boxes is always comfortably warm to the hand when touched. 
The comb in the box above which the bees died in the super, seen through 
the glass, is sealed, and looks clean, good, and healthy. Free communi¬ 
cation existed between box and super by means of two slits 4 inth-s 
long. The door and window are kept closed in the bee-house. The 
window is a square opening, fitted with a wood Bhuttcr, opened when 
rt quired for light. The bees go out from the boxes through the wall by 
means of openings 4 inches wide, counter sunk in the floor-board so the 
boxes fit flush to wall. My other bees are healthy. I have only had 
one swarm this year from five st cks. One came to me from a hollow 
tree outside, and occupied a tree partially filled with comb, standing on 
ihe floor-board in house opposite an opening. The swarm left me last 
year, and went into the tree from which these came. I am feeding 
these swarms hard, having given them already 22 lbs. of sugar, and they 
look like taking as much more. It was to one of these I wanted to put 
he remainder of the bees left in the box when the bees died in the super. 
Will it be safe to do so 1 —H. T. H. 
[If Ihe combs are as you say perfectly clean, and contain no dead 
brood, it will be quite safe to put bees into them. If, on the other hand, 
they contain dead larvae it will not be advisable to put bees into them. 
If, as you say, no light can enter the super, then I conclude that the bees 
have died from the disease stated in my last answer. If there be no 
blood relation with the dead bees and those you wish to join it will bo 
perfectly safe doing so ; but if they are related there is a risk of their 
falling victims to the disease. Get rid of all the bees ot that blood as. 
soon as you can. Four inches wide for a doorway is by far too small an 
entrance to any hive, and it is quite likely that an expert, on examining 
the hive, might ascribe the calamity to that. 1 have witnessed strong 
hives nearly suffocated by the drones clustering close to the doorway 
where they had been driven by the bees.— A Lanarkshibe Bee¬ 
keeper.] _ 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Edward Philip Dixon, Yorkshire Seed Establishment, Hull.— Catalogue 
of Bulbs and Spring Flowering Plants. 
Euriel Liebig, Dresden. —Catalogue of Azaleas, Camellias, Bhododen- 
drons , < fc. 
Ant Roozen, Overveen, Haarlem.— Catalogue of Choice Butch and Cape 
Bulbs. 
All correspondence should be directed either to “ The Editor r 
or to “ The Publisher.” Letters addressed to Dr. Hogg or 
members of the staff often remain unopened unavoidably. Wo 
request that no one will write privately to any of our correspon¬ 
dents, as doing so subjects them to unjustifiable trouble and 
expense. 
Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions relat¬ 
ing to Gardening and those on Bee subjects, 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. 
Leeds Paxton Society ( G. H .).—The report of the excursion to Welbeck 
on the 11th inst. reached us as we were preparing for press on the 2Sth, and 
quite too late for insertion. 
Tomatoes ( W. J. S.). —The truss of fruit is fine, but the variety is not 
distinct from others in cultivation It is very similar to the Chiswick Red 
that waB sent out by Messrs. Sutton & Sons, Reading, this year, and is an 
abundant bearer. 
Reports of Shows ( A. G. B.).— It is quite impossible for us to insert 
newspaper reports of shows that reach us on Wednesday morning, as the 
greater part of the Journal is ready for press then. This is equally an 
answer to “G. H.” We prefer brief original reports to long newspaper 
“ cuttings ” at any time. 
Saving Sunflower Seed (M., Croydon). —You may let the heads remain 
on the plants till the seeds are firm and fall out readily when rubbed with 
the finger; then cut the heads and spread them on a mat or sheet in a dry 
place, and in the course of a few days the seed can be easily shaken out- 
Fowls eat it greedily, and it is very nutritious. 
Mixed Bedding in the Parks {Kittle). —The system you mention has 
become very popular in the last year or two, and has introduced a pleasing 
variety of style. There is no difficulty in cultivating plants suitable for 
the purpose, and you will have plenty of time to prepare for another season.. 
In the course of a week or two we shall give an article upon the subject. 
Grubs on Pear Trees (H. Williams). —The leaves you have sent are- 
infested with the larva of the Pear sawfly (Selandria Althiops), often 
called the Pear tree slug. It may be destroyed by dusting well with freshly 
slaked lime or springing with lime water, and no doubt with the petroleum 
mixture you are using—we hope not so strong as to injure the leaves. 
This pest is Very injurious, and does not usually attack the underside of the. 
foliage. 
Dahlia Fanny Carey ( T. P. C.).— -The bloom of your new Dahlia isu 
extremely rich in colour, deep purplish crineon, aud the florets are of good 
substance, but scarcely sufficiently pointed to entitle the variety to be 
classed as a “ Cactus ” Dahlia. If the plant flowers freely it will be effective 
