230 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ March 24, 189$. 
as well as many other insects. A consignment of these bees came 
to hand a day too late, or they would have been sent to New 
Zealand by the late Mr. A. Neighbour. These bees were found 
and kept in the peat in flower pots, and stood in an airy shed all 
winter. As the spring advanced they crept out, when I fed them 
with honey, and returned them to their winter quarters in cold 
weather such as we have lately experienced. Had similar pre¬ 
cautions been taken with those sent out, I believe they would 
have survived the journey, and the hint may yet be useful. 
Hybeknation. 
There is not a day during the whole year, if the bees are 
examined, but some of them will be found in a torpid state. The 
queen also, during the height of egg-laying, takes her nap several 
times daily, in fact frequently, at short intervals. When she 
awakens from these short sleeps she either feeds herself or is fed 
by the bees, sometimes both. 
Bees, like other animals, demand repose during a honey glut; so 
anxious are they that they not infrequently fall to the ground on 
their return journey and fall asleep there in the sunshine. This is 
different from the mere rest from the fatigues of their labours 
through long flight which bees usually take. It is not ‘summer’s 
sleep, however, winter’s rest, or so-called hybernation that is the 
subject of this article. 
I have already shown that bees sometimes pass the winter in an 
active state. When bees awake from sleep at certain times in 
winter, and there is food within reach, the hive is saved ; cold, 
damp, and lack of food cause the death of many bees. But what 
has that to do with hybernating ? some may ask. The answer can 
be given in a few words. Because bees do not hybernate. Bees 
simply perform all their domestic duties in relays. Some work 
while others sleep, but their rest is of short duration. 
The present winter has been as favourable as any I have ex¬ 
perienced for bees “ hybernating but what do we find ? Large 
quantities of brood in all stages, and the increase has been going on 
since the end of December last. Thus the whole subject is 
resolved into the question. Is it possible for bees to keep up the 
heat of the hive and carry on breeding to such an extent and 
hybernate at the same time ? If I am wrong I shall be glad to 
hear the other side.—A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Wm. Sydenham, Tamworth .—List of ExTiihition Pansies. 
Thomas S. Ware, Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham .—Catalogues of 
Hardy Perennials, Hardy and Greenhouse Climbing Plants, and Hardy 
Perennials, 
•**A11 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. 
Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions 
relating to Gardening and those on Bee subjects, and should 
never send more than two or three questions at once. All 
articles intended 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 
Communications and Photographs (.Tacli ).—We regret our 
inability to insert your contributions this week, but they will not have 
long to wait. There is only one way of determining the suitability of 
photographs for engraving, and that is by inspection. If you forward 
those alluded to we will return them if through any cause they are not 
used. 
Xate Questions ( W. IF.).—Your letter, with some others, arrived 
one post too late to be answered this week. 
Cinerarias (Y. C .').—The flowers did not arrive in good condition, 
but appear to have been well grown, and of good average quality. 
Boxes (Jl Pratt ).—The boxes you have sent are light and useful, 
but the letter aeeompanying them is distinctly an advertisement, and 
could only be inserted on business lines by arrangement with the 
publisher. 
Select Varieties of TJ'arclssus Beedsl (J. J. IP ).—You will 
soon have an opportunity of observing the varieties of these elegant and 
delicately tinted Star Daffodils at the metropolitan shows and meetings; 
but we readily comply with your request, and furnish the names of a 
dozen choice forms. Some are, however, extremely rare, and the prices 
are proportionately high, though the ordinary varieties are cheap 
enough. One of the best is Mrs. Langtry, of which a flower is shown in 
fig. 37, the perianth being white, with a tinge of yellow in the cup at 
first opening. Of others the very notable are Beatrice, pure white and 
of fine shape ; Duchess of Brabant, white, pale yellow cup ; Duchess of 
Westminster, white, with a delicate yellow and orange cup ; Elegans, 
FIG. 37.— narcissus LEEDSI VAR. MRS. LANGTRY. 
white, tinted with warm yellow ; Gem, pure white ; Grand Duchess, 
white, with large cup tinted orange ; Hon. Mrs. Barton, pure white, the 
cup of varying delicate yellow tints ; Kate Spurrell, white, pale yellow 
cup, large distinct flower; Minnie Hume, a beautiful white variety, 
the cup ranging from pale yellow to white ; Magdaline de Graaff, white, 
the cup orange tinted, an extremely distinct variety ; and Princess of 
Wales, white, very neat in form, the cup slightly frilled. 
Forcing Strawberries—Writing for the Press (^Correspondent). 
—An article from, presumably, a young gardener whose name we 
suppress, and whose address he withholds, cannot be inserted because 
closely written on both sides of the paper. As is stated every week at 
the head of this column, “ articles for insertion should be written on 
one side of the paper only.” Young aspirants to literary distinction will 
also find it to their advantage to leave ample space for writing between 
the lines of their MSS,, as then the requisite corrections can be made. 
By noting these and profiting by them we are glad to say that some 
once crude writers have become so competent as to derive substantial 
benefit from their literary work. We may perhaps remind our 
correspondent that his spelling is open to considerable improve¬ 
ment, and his punctuation is extremely erratic. If he is a “ man 
of metal” he will be glad to have these defects pointed out, and 
determine to overcome them ; if he resents this gentle suggestion he 
will never become famous as a writer on gardening or anything else, 
iVsphalt for Pond (S. F.).—It is not possible to make the bottom 
and sides impervious to water in the manner you describe. The ashes 
must be quite dry and fine, and they must be formed into a mortar-like 
consistence with boiling (not merely hot) coal tar, and placed whilst 
warm about 3 inches thick on a foundation of dry rubble, and whilst 
soft sprinkled with dry sand or spar, rolling lightly. The pond when so 
lined may hold water, but would be one of the worst possible receptacles 
for anything to grow in. We have made much rockwork, several 
cascades, and some lakes in cement, and never seen chipping from frost 
when good material was used and the work properly done. We advise 
Portland cement and sharp sand, half and half, not putting on the coat 
in layers but the full thickness at once. We have also used cement in 
making walks along with gravel in the following proportion—best 
