20 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July T, 1892. 
PUNICS AND A FAILURE TO IMPORT THEM. 
In the B. B. J. for August 27th, 1891, it is stated : — “ Queens 
could be purchased for & few francs,” and further on, alluding to their 
having been advertised, he says, “ We wonder how many bee-keepers 
will be induced to give £5 5s. for one.” Again on September Nth a 
writer says, “ We can send him name and address of parties in 
Algeria to whom he could apply for the bees.” True, he only says 
“ apply,” but readers certainly understood they could obtain them. Mr. 
Cowan has now returned from Tunis, and I understand has failed to 
bring back even one queen alive. For over six years I have been the 
only person who has imported Punic queens alive into this country. 
The enemies of these bees are increasing the demand for them, 
and inducing more persons than they think to give them a trial. 
Changing Hives to Punics—Virgin Queens. 
A number of persons have asked me the best way to proceed in 
changing their bees to Punics. Pure stocks of Punics may be had at 
a cost of 5s. each, which is the price as advertised of two virgins. The 
best months in the year to get virgins are June and July. If a nucleus 
is made up by the side of a stock that it is intended to re-queen, when 
the virgin begins laying remove the old queen and unite the nucleus, then 
things will go on satisfactorily. The advertiser of Punic queens issues 
a circular to applicants giving all necessary particulars. When queens 
are received by letter post great care should be exercised in sliding the 
lid, as the queen may be injured by careless hands. 
Straw skeps are best driven on the fifteenth day after the first 
swarm. It is not safe to do so before, as some queens may not have 
hatched. “After-swarms” have been known to come off after the 
sixteenth day, even as late as the twenty-first. What we have to do is 
to catch and remove the reigning virgin queen ; then in two days, there 
being no unsealed brood or eggs left, the virgin or fertile Punic can be 
dropped in after forty-eight hours. Doolittle recommends that virgin 
qujens be given five days after the reigning queen has been removed— 
i.e., after queen cells are sealed. The experiments that 1 have tried on 
these lines, giving a virgin five days after the old stock hive swarmed, 
have never resulted in a perfect success. The bees have invariably 
protected the cells, and the Punic has led off a second swarm ; still, the 
plan may be followed, as the virgin Punic will not be lost, but come off 
with a swarm as stated, or else destroy the cells, as Doolittle says they 
will. But here a word of caution is necessary : Never put back such a 
second swarm, or there is no knowing which queen will get killed, for 
there is sure to be some hatched before it can be put back. Better by 
far to hive the second swarm near the old stock, and in three or four 
days after drive the old stock and remove the other queen, afterwards 
uniting the second swarm. The process is easy in dealing with frame 
hives, as the reigning queen has only to be removed. If a virgin, then 
in two days another can be safely given them ; if a laying queen, then 
cut the queen cells out on the ninth day, when another can be given 
two days afterwards. 
< Fertile Queens. 
The next course is by means of fertile queens. These can be given at 
any time, but the best time is during September and October, after 
queens have mostly ceased laying. It is always best to examine on 
the ninth day for queen cells. I prefer the autumn to introduce fertile 
queens, as there is then no risk of a strange queen getting into the hive 
while standing queenless. 
It is expected to have at least 500 tested, pure mated, queens 
ready in September, and all not wanted for regular orders will be sent 
for 10s. down and the other 10s. next year, after they have been tried. 
If not liked, not only will the other 10s. not be payable, but the first 
will be returned also. It is this offer to return all money in full that 
is not liked by everybody, but I challenge anyone to publish a 
case in which the advertised guarantees have not been met. — 
A Hallamshire Bee-keeper. 
* # '"AI1 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- 
Zonal Pelargoniums at York (E. Protliero ).—Some of the 
largest plants we have seen at the York Shows were quite 6 feet in 
diameter, nearly flat, and like bouquets for flowers. We once tried to 
count the trusses on one specimen but failed. There were, however, 
more than 200. The plants were evidently many years old, and the 
varieties of necessity not modern. As you have plants 3 feet in diameter 
grown in eighteen months, each bearing from fifty to sixty trusses, you 
have done very well. 
Cattleya gigas (T. W. S .).—The flower is a misshapen form of 
C. gigas. It is a curiosity and has no other recommendation at present. 
Probably it is a newly imported plant flowering for the first time ; if so 
it should be marked and watched, as very likely it will grow out of the 
peculiarity. C. Triana; and C. Warmeri often have badly formed and 
curiously coloured flowers when they first bloom, but with good treat¬ 
ment they soon come all right. Should the plant in question prove 
persistent in its present character it should be exhibited, but it would be 
more valuable without the curious sepals, as it would then be a very fair 
C. gigas. 
Peach Leaves Yellow (C . S.). —The leaves are simply devoid of 
chlorophyll, and the wood is as pale as the leaves. Neither lacks size, 
but the leaves are devoid of substance, the wood is long-jointed, and the 
buds scarcely visible. We apprehend the soil is light and loose. If so, 
firm it, and supply a pound per square yard of the following mixture :— 
Superphosphate of lime three parts, nitrate of potash, powdered, one part, 
sulphate of lime one part, mix, and spread evenly, point in lightly, not 
more than an inch, and water copiously. If you send particulars of soil 
we may be able to assist you further, but admit air freely in the mean¬ 
while. Probably the trees need lifting and the roots placing in fresh 
soil nearer the surface of the border. 
Strawberries In the Tropics ( Emigrant ).—Your information is 
probably in the main correct. The following, pertaining to this subject, 
appeared in the Kew Bulletin for April:—“ Strawberries are often tried 
in the tropics, but with varying success. In the cool climate of the hills 
they do very well for a time, but even there the choice sorts appear to 
deteriorate, and to require to be renewed at frequent intervals. Plants 
packed in Wardian or dry cases travel rather badly, sometimes as many 
as one-third to one-half being lost in one sending. To obviate this 
efforts have occasionally been made to send out seed selected from good 
sorts. In acknowledging the receipt of some seed forwarded from Kew, 
Mr. M. A. Lawson, F.L.S., Director of the Botanical Department, 
Madras, writes from Ootacamund, 15th February, 1892 :—‘ I shall be 
very glad to try the Strawberry seeds, but my attempts in that line 
have not been a success hitherto ; as the plants raised from seed have 
always harked back to the old alpine variety. We have, nevertheless, 
very good Strawberries both in Ootacamund and Bangalore, but they 
are grown only on a small scale. I am trying to domesticate our wild 
Strawberry of these hills, but as yet I have done no wonders with it.’ 
Mr. A. Henderson, Bunnymede, Florida, under date of February 12th, 
1892, writes Strawberries have just commenced, and they will keep 
on until May. We have here a particular kind, consisting of three 
varieties, that does exceedingly well in warm countries. The runners 
are cut off until May (when the crop ends). This is a perpetual 
fruiting kind. The northern and English varieties will not thrive 
here.’ In the Blue Mountains, Jamaica, a wild Strawberry, supposed 
to be an escape from gardens, is found very abundantly at elevations of 
4000 to 5000 feet. The fruit is regularly gathered and sold in the 
Kingston Market.” 
Grapes Unsatisfactory (Anxious). —The berries are of good size, 
and the few that are fairly coloured are good, but most are not coloured, 
and several are shanked. It is a clear case of overcropping. There is 
no remedy now, but it will help the Vines to recuperate if the laterals 
are allowed to extend as far as the space admits without overcrowding 
it with foliage. They must not, however, be permitted to interfere with 
the principal leaves, which must be kept clean and healthy as long as 
possible. Admit air freely by day, and provide enough at night to 
insure a free circulation. The shanked berries should be cut out, and the 
crop cut as soon as circumstances admit. There must not be any 
deficiency of water at the roots, continuing supplies as needed so as to 
keep the foliage fresh, and get as much stored-up matter in the Vines 
as possible. The evil can only be avoided by regulating the crop to the 
vigour of the Vines. Those planted two years previous to last February, 
and in their third year, ought not to have been allowed to bear fruit to 
the top of the house. Vines, in the early years of cropping, should not 
be overburdened with fruit, 1 lb. per foot of rod is sufficient at any 
time, and half that is better than a full crop for the first two or three 
years of bearing. The Vines in your case have been left too long at 
each season’s shortening of the canes, otherwise they would not have 
the largest bunches at the top of the house, but have no more than 6 to 
8 feet of rod on 'fohich fruit ought to be borne, which means that weight 
of fruit instead of 20 lbs, That is where the mistake has been made, 
and it must be carefully avoided in future. 
Young Vines Flagging and leaves Scorching ( G. <?.).— 
There is no disease whatever in the leaves, but they are slightly warted, 
due to keeping the house too close or until the temperature had risen 
considerably, and then admitting air in a large volume at once. The 
leaves are small and very thin in texture, thus affording evidence that 
they have not had nearly enough air in their early stages, and have 
been subjected to too forcing an atmosphere before the Vines became well 
established and the roots active. This, and the light shading employed up 
to a fortnight ago and then removed, is the cause of the mischief. The 
Vines ought not to have been shaded, but brought forward gently in a 
well ventilated atmosphere. The old Vines on the other side of the 
house were not affected in the same way, because they had roots in 
reciprocal action with their foliage. With the sun, or even strong light. 
