572 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 29, 1892. 
APIARIAN NOTES. 
Coloured Combs. 
Thanks to “ C., Northumberland ,” for the reply on page 558. 
There are different causes for coloured combs — viz., pollen, 
propolis, and sometimes the determination of bees to imitate the 
already darkened brood combs within their hive. This may be 
seen by the newly made comb pendant on the old comb, while that 
on white comb is also pure. Opinions differ why this is so, as well 
as how the change is wrought. Having in view those facts we 
discourage the practice of admitting bees to supers from the centre 
of the hive ; a,nd our supers, although tardily filled, are pure and 
delicate a thing unknown to the greater number of bee-keepers in 
England until the first Crystal Palace 
Show in 1874. 
Testimony. 
The “ British Bee Journal ” referred 
to our honey at that time as follows : — 
“ The pride of the Show came from 
Ayrshire in octagon Stewarton supers 
of about 4 inches in depth, and truly 
it was a pleasure to look at them, a 
treat in itself to see how the art of 
the master could induce the bees 
to build their combs so beautifully 
straight, so symmetrical, and even on 
both sides, and so perfectly finished 
that one could have declared they 
were cast in a mould to pattern ; and 
who could fail to admire the per¬ 
fection in the art of packing by the 
Ayrshire gentlemen, who brought their 
immense harvest over 400 miles of 
railway almost without breaking a 
single comb ; while scarcely one of the 
damaged supers had one-fourth of the 
journey to undergo.” The “ Times ” 
reported that our exhibit “ eclipsed 
everything.” Now some of the supers 
referred to were produced from hives 
on the two-queen principle. After 
this restatement of a stern fact, who 
will give credence to the “idle” talk 
that the idea “ is new,” or who can 
deny the fact that the world is in¬ 
debted to the Journal of Horticulture 
for primary information on the suc¬ 
cessful and practical management of 
bees ? This is the truth, notwith¬ 
standing what may be advanced else¬ 
where to the contrary. 
The Effect of Flowers on Supers. 
The common Ragweed, when bees work upon the flowers, give 
the supers a high yellow colour, as do other abundant yielding 
pollen plants. The only preventive is to exclude the bees from 
supers elsewhere than at the sides, which of course means relegating 
the zinc queen excluder to the lumber room. 
The Study of Bees. 
I am inclined to think that students of horticulture should turn 
their attention in a general way to the study of entomology, and to 
bees in particular. There is a wide, but still unexplored field for 
thought and action. . The whole natural history of bees is fraught 
with interest. Their purpose is to fertilise flowers and prevent 
in-ana-in breeding. Nature has endowed them with an extra¬ 
ordinary fecundity to effect her purposes at the proper time. They 
flower their sweets for bee preservation, and man shares the honey 
with them. 
The bee lives, with the exception of water, entirely from the 
plant, and one is dependent upon the other, everything suitable for 
interharmonious action being provided in both in a manner that 
compels admiration. 
From the tiny egg to the perfect insect, the evolution through 
a series of transformations is sixteen days ;from eighteen to twenty 
in the worker, and from twenty-one to twenty-four in the drone, 
the young requiring attention from the bees during the whole of 
these periods. Now, contrast bees with the eggs, transformation, 
and ulterior motives of some of the saw flies and butterflies which 
take care of themselves from the moment they are hatched. If 
these things do not incite within the student a desire to study the 
life history of the foes and friends of the garden he fails to look 
to his own interest and pleasure, at least this is the opinion of— 
A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
H. Cannell & Sons, Swanley, Kent .—Chrysanthemums and .“Perfect 
Golden Seeds." 
J. Cheat & Sons, Lowfield Nurseries, Crawley, Sussex .—Flower and 
Vegetable Seeds, <fyc. 
H. Deverill, Royal Oxfordshire Seed Establishment, Banbury.— 
Seeds for the Garden . 
Dobbie & Co., Rothesay, Scotland.— Competitors' Guide. 
Hurst & Sons, 152, Houndsditch, London.— Vegetable, Flower, and 
Farm Seeds. 
Kelway & Sons, Langport .—Manual of Horticulture and Agriculture. 
J. Laing & Sons, Forest Hill, London, S.E .—Flower and Vegetable 
Seeds, Begonias, <$‘c. 
Chr. Lorenz, Erfurt .—Flower Se*>ds. 
Charles Sharpe & Co., Sleaford, Lincolnshire.— Garden and Farm Seeds. 
Stuart & Mein, Kelso, Scotland .—Amateur Gardening Guide. 
H. & F. Sharpe, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.— Garden and Agri¬ 
cultural Seeds. 
***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 io 
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 
Aquatics for a Small Fountain-basin in a Conservatory 
(F. B. IK).—Aponogeton distachyon, Limnocharis Plumieri, and Ponte- 
deria cordata are the most likely to answer your requirements, the first 
