February 26, 1801. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
175 
be delayed for a time if the plants are to be broken up. If not it does 
not matter, as they can be potted without injury provided the old soil is 
worked carefully away and the new compost has been well warmed. 
When the plants are broken up pot all the small bulbs in pots by them¬ 
selves. Use for a compost <;ood fibry loam, one-seventh of manure, 
plenty of sand, and a little charcoal to keep the soil open and porous. 
Plunge the plants after potting, if possible, where they can enjoy gentle 
bottom heat, by which they will soon become established. Syringe the 
plants twice daily until they are established. It must be remembered 
that these are not deep rooting plants, and that if grown in large pots 
liberal drainage should be employed. 
Pancratiums .—These may also be repotted if they need it. Place 
young stock into larger pots, or any plants that it is necessary to increase 
in size. To increase the stock take off the young plants that nestle 
round the base of the large bulbs. Use the compost advised for 
Eucharis and give the plants the same treatment—that is, all that have 
been disturbed at their roots ; the remainder may be grown in the stove 
in the ordinary way. 
APIARIAN NOTES. 
Advanced State of Hives. 
Although I fully expected to see many young bees, I was 
rather surprised on the 15th of February to see them so numerous. 
Several hives swarmed with them, and looked more like hives 
in May than in the middle of February, and which had sprung 
from eggs laid during the coldest time of the year. The heaviest 
hives had most of them. In order to keep them in a forward state 
when the weather is mild I shall supply them with sufficient, 
but not excessive, syrup. At the same progress for two months as 
they have been making in the past six weeks they will be crowding 
out end of April or beginning of May. But we may experience 
severe wintry weather yet, which will prevent their maturing 
swarming symptoms so early. Be that as it may, I shall encourage 
the most forward to swarm early, and from them prepare young 
queens for late summer work. 
Rodbing. 
One extra strong Carniolian hive attacked another before it 
was rightly wakened up, and was making rapid progress towards 
the attacked one’s destruction when I observed it. I immediately 
carbolicised the alighting board of the marauders, and after a 
little closed it in. Meanwhile I altered the entrance of the 
attacked hive a few inches. The slight disturbance on so fine a 
day caused them to sally forth, and immediately put themselves 
into a state of defence, when the others were released, but to make 
another attack, but this time were repulsed. A heroic defence by 
the attacked is the best means to put a stop to robbing. I have 
at times stopped it by breaking up a portion of the attacking 
hive’s honeycomb, but it is better when it can be prevented by 
using every precaution necessary than have recourse to extreme 
measures. 
When bees get into a state of persistent robbery it becomes a 
great drawback to the hives and a serious loss to the apiarist, as 
they take a long time to make up the loss of bees, and the brood 
may never be extended to what will bring the hive up to the stan¬ 
dard strength, at least often till it is too late. 
ArriHANCES. 
Without attempting to forecast what the weather will be during 
the honey season, it will be qube safe to predict that if we are 
favoured with three weeks or more settled weather during the 
honey months, the bee-keeper will not be studying his own interest 
if he fails to have sufficient super accommodation provided before¬ 
hand for a large yield of honey, which may be 112 lbs., or even 
more, from good stocks. I have frequently had upwards of 
200 lbs. from each stcck hive, and it is better to be provided with 
extra than to be short of super accommodation. 
Excessive Swathing. 
Excessive swarms do not demand an extra number of hives, as- 
in the case of supers, as swarms in many cases can be manipulated 
by joining to one another, so as to secure strength with a larger 
yield of honey from fewer but stronger hives than from a greater 
number but weaker ones. But even in this the bee-keeper should 
always have a few extra hives on hand, in case of a fine honey 
season appearing, as we all hope it may in 1891. 
When a spell of fine weather comes the bees must either have 
excessive room in the body of the hive or the supers. When in- 
the former, and the bees crowding the supers, it is, generally 
speaking, most satisfactory, as then where healthy queens are at 
work there is less likelihood of the bees preparing to swarm as- 
when the breeding boxes are crowded with a paucity of bees in the 
supers, and swarming always takes place most frequently where 
queens are faulty. 
It is one of the common errors of the present time amongst 
bee-keepers to suppose, as they do, that swarming is provoked by 
a manipulation, or in other words by some act done or omitted in 
the course of’ one or two days’ time. An already crowded hive’s 
swarming may be hastened by some manipulation or other, but 
bees prepare for the event in a regular and systematic manner 
according to Nature’s laws, and which man in most cases cannot 
control. 
I hope the foregoing hints may enable all bee-keepers to be 
prepared with all appliances to meet the contingencies of the 
season, whether they be favourable or unfavourable.—A Lanark¬ 
shire Bee-keeper. 
BEE NOTES. 
The bees have thawed at last, so we may expect a little more- 
activity amongst their masters. I intended some months ago to- 
send you a few notes on the past season’s work, but it was un¬ 
avoidably put off, and during the freeze-up we have had 
one seemed to have but little heart to settle to anything. 
Well, after having been practically frozen up for eight weeks- 
the bees are on the wing again. Sunday, the 25th ult., was a fine 
bright day, and though the temperature in the shade only 
rose to 45° the bees were out and had a good airing. So far all 
my stocks are alive except one, which I knew was weak early 
in the autumn, and scarcely expected it to survive the winter.. 
Never in my short experience were things more promising- 
than they were in May of last year for a good honey harvest. 
Stocks were uniformly strong, and six of my seven hives were 
working in supers by the middle of that month, and all had made- 
a little surplus from the fruit trees and Sycamores by the end of 
the month. June, as we all know, proved cool and wet, 2'’ below 
the average temperature, and a rainfall of 1 inch above the 
average. The bees increase in numbers amazingly, but diminished 
rather than increased their surplus until the white Clover came into 
bloom. 
July was again 2° below the average temperature, with a rain¬ 
fall of nearly 4 inches. White Clover was never more abundant, 
but the rain was so incessant that there was no chance of the 
honey coming in, and as this is what bee keepers in this district 
have to depend on for their surplus, as may be imagined the result 
was disastrous to all but those whose colonies were very strong,. 
A few dry days after the 20th of July enabled the bees to get a 
little out of the fag-end of the Clover, strong colonies making fair 
progress, and weaker ones fairly filling up their stores for the 
winter. According to our custom all supers were cleared off by 
the 10th of August, with the result that we had 190 lbs., or an 
average of 27 lbs. per hive. Of this 154 lbs. were 1 lb. sections fit 
for market, the remainder, 3G lbs., extracted from over 100 un¬ 
finished sections, leaving us that number filled with beautiful 
white combs for this year’s use. 
I had no swarms during the year. From six small straw 
skeps which I manage for my employer we had GO lbs. finished- 
sections, and finished the season with an increase of two stocks 
in bar-frame hives. Altogether cur returns were not so bad as- 
many bad to be content with. Six or eight years ago when I 
started bee-keeping, my greatest difficulty was to find a rnarket for- 
the honey. This I have overcome. By glazing the sections I find 
the local grocers are pleased to handle them, and give lOs. per 
dozen for them. This may not seem a large price to those who- 
talk of getting Is. Gd. per lb., but I have found that in Brighton, 
