868 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 26, 1893. 
Bee-keeping—Teaching Beginners. 
Can you tell me of a useful little work on bees, very sirnple 
and suited to a beginner ? We have about eight hives, and since 
the sudden death of a brother in the summer no one understands 
how to manage them. A bee-master took the honey for us about 
the beginning of August, and reported the swarms strong and 
healthy ; but as he does not come again till the spring, I wished to 
ask if there is anything to be done in the meantime. We have 
“ Modern Bee-keeping,” a handbook for cottagers, but perhaps you 
can recommend me something better ?—W. H. B. 
[As there is no royal road to learning, so there is no book which 
alone can teach beginners sufficiently, and guide them in all matters 
connected with bees. Nature’s book, and with it experience, form 
the best groundwork for the young apiarist. Neighbour’s “ Apiary, 
and the “ A. B. C. Book,” by A. T. Root, are perhaps as good as 
any, the latter touching upon many things not otherwise found in 
bee boooks. 
The bee-master who took the honey in August, and reported 
the swarms strong and healthy, should have told you whether there 
was sufficient food in the hive to last till late in the spring ; it 
ought then to have been not less than 35 lbs., and at the present 
date 20 to 30 lbs. He should also have shown you how 
to feed and protect the hives against the frost and storms of 
Grubs in Cyclamen Pots (A.).—The grubs are the larvse of a 
destructive weevil (Otiorhynchus), a brownish beetle-like creature 
which feeds chiefly at night on various kinds of plants, and may be 
found with the aid of a lantern and destroyed. The grubs are difficult 
to destroy—a decoction of hellebore made by dissolving 2 ozs. of the 
powder in a gallon of hot water and applied at a temperature of over 
100° might be tried. It would not injure the plants. 
IVIarechal Nlel Roses (<9. A).—We should not have adopted 
your practice, though we hope no material harm will result. The roots 
would no doubt strike downwards and find the moisture you have 
denied them near the surface. Root-drying does not always mean wood¬ 
ripening, as has been over and over again indicated in our columns, but 
often means wood-starving. We advise you to make the border moist 
right through in the best way you can, using pure water, then a week 
afterwards follow with good liquid manure. 
Prices of Brick and Concrete Garden Walls (TF. J/. B.'). 
—The prices vary with the material, distance of carriage, and labour. 
A 9-inch thickness will do for,a wall of 6 feet height, and with bricks of 
good quality, cost about 3s. 9d. per superficial yard, including footings 
and copings. Concrete walls generally “ batter ” upwards to 9 inches 
from a base of 15 inches, and equally on both sides. If the materials 
have to be bought and cement is used the cost is about the same as 
a brick wall, generally 4s. per superficial yard. Where the materials 
are handy and the work done by skilled labourers the cost is consider¬ 
ably less. 
■winter. _ i j. 
If the hives are not provided with sufficient food supply it at 
once until they have at last 20 lbs. each stored. If single-cased 
(by far the best) wrap several plies of woollen or other material 
around them, then over that an oilcloth or an archangel mat, 
covering the top of the frames with a porous quilt of some sort, 
then over that some dried grass or several inches of soft woollen 
material. 
A ventilating floor is the safety valve of every hive. As a 
makeshift a rim 3 or 4 inches deep covered with perforated zinc, 
seven holes to the inch laid on the top, not nailed, keeping the 
original floor beneath all. Be sure the top is defended by a water¬ 
proof covering of cloth or iron so placed as to leave a free current 
of air between it and the covering. "The Journal of Horticulture is the 
best instructor. The articles appearing weekly for the guidance of 
beginners, if read and thought over, will enable anyone to become 
proficient in a year. Some of the greatest achievements in modern 
bee-keeping were learned first from its pages.—A Lanarkshire 
Bee-keeper.] 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Little & Ballantyne, Carlisle.— Trees, Roses, Herbaceous, Stove and 
Greenhouse Plants. 
The Surrey Orchard Co., Redhill.— Bulbs. 
Charles Turner, Royal Nurseries, Slough.— Roses, Fruit Irees, and 
Nursery Stoch. 
•^•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. 
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. 
Covering Glass Structures In Winter (Ji Everaerts). —You act 
wisely in drawing down your lattice and other blinds over the roofs of 
your houses in winter to prevent loss of heat by radiation and consequent 
waste in fuel. We do not understand why the custom is not more 
general, but we know that in many instances it would be advantageous 
to use blinds less in summer and more in winter. If growers of 
Chrysanthemums were to use blinds over the plants on clear cold nights, 
the damping and premature decay of many blooms would be prevented. 
The use of good blinds in winter would considerably lessen the 
onsumption of fuel, 
c 
Dressing the Wounds of Apple Tree (^Inquirer'). —It was not 
intended to deprecate the use of pigments for dressing the wounds 
caused by cutting oil large limbs, but we have seen disastrous con¬ 
sequences follow the use of gas tar on fruit trees, and do not advocate 
its use on any tree with a smooth bark, as Apple trees ought to have 
to be healthy and fruitful. It is usual to dress the wounds of forest 
trees with gas tar (or preferably lead-coloured paint), and no injurious 
results follow, in consequence of the thickness of the bark, whilst 
the pores of the wood are closed by the pigment. For any cuts such 
as you allude to we should prefer lead-coloured paint to gas tar, but 
for the cankered wounds proceed as advised with the sulphate of copper 
solution, washing them well out, and then apply a plaster of cow 
manure and clay to encourage the growth of the bark over the wound. 
The sulphate of copper solution is in nowise a preserver of the wood 
from wet, but it acts fatally on fungi and their germs. 
Transparent Patches In Apple Fiesta (i2. I. Z.).—The hard 
wax-like patches on the Apple consist of pulp of greater density than 
the other parts of the fruit, the cell walls having been ruptured, 
probably on account of their thinness, and the extravasated juices are 
retained, giving the blotches a firm transparent appearance. There are, 
of course, no air spaces in this part of the fruit, but there is a certain 
amount of air, as air bubbles form on the microscopic section, and a few 
perfect cells exist amid the gelatinous-like flesh forming the blotches. 
In the other parts of the fruit the cells are unusually large, and the 
flesh is much softer and lighter. The substance proceeds directly from 
the internal parts of the fruit, and is intimately connected with the 
carpel or core. Its extravasation is most pronounced in hot soils 
and seasons, and is restricted to certain races, such as the Muscovy or 
White Astrachan (Transparent Apple), which is remarkable for its 
gelatinous-like blotches in the flesh, and sometimes the whole fruit is 
transparent, with a texture of flesh resembling a stone fruit, and very 
crisp, juicy, and richly flavoured. The transparent blotches sometimes 
occur in Gravenstein and in some of the Calvilles. It is not a disease, 
but a peculiaiity of type, transmittible from the parent and inherent 
in the progeny. The threads pervading the gelatinous-like substance 
are not fungal, but belong to the cells which have had their juices 
extravasated. 
IMCaklng a Vine Border (^George'). —As there is about to 3 feet 
of good soil resting on rather sandy gravel, we should not for marketing 
purposes indulge in a costly border, for if profits are to be realised in 
these days of keen competition, it must be by strict economy both as 
regards capital and labour. If the soil is naturally well drained, water 
not lodging in the sandy gravel, nor at any time rising to within 4 feet 
of the surface, but percolating away to lower ground as it falls and 
passes through the soil, there will not be any necessity for tile drains to 
carry off the otherwise superfluous water. Rubble for drainage will not 
be necessary, and all you need do is to chop the turf up rather roughly, 
mix with it the lime rubbish and a quarter of the fowl manure, place on 
the border evenly, and mix the whole with the good soil by trenching, 
so as to form a staple 2J feet deep, loosening the soil at the bottom, and 
leaving it there. This border will grow as good Grapes as need be with 
d ue attention to surface dressings and supplies of water or liquid manure. 
Where water lodges in the subsoil, an excavation should be made 3 feet 
deep down to the sandy gravel, with the bottom sloping to a drain at 
the front and longitudinally of the proposed house, having the drain 
about 1 foot below the bottom of the border, with proper fall and outlet, 
placing rubble on the 4-lnch drain level with the bottom of the border. 
The front wall of the house should be arched so that the roots may pass 
from the inside to the outside border, 9-inch pillars sufficing, with skew- 
back arches, the under side of their crowns being level with the proposed 
level of the border, and about a foot of brickwork above the crown of 
the arches will be sufficient height of wall in front and at the ends. 
About 3 feet height of front lights opening the entire length of the house, 
or every other light at least, will be necessary. Top lights will also be 
necessary in the sloping roof, about 2\ feet wide, and preferably opening 
