272 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 22, 1892. 
Non-Swarmers 
In some localities where the honey season is very short non- 
swarmers are the only ones likely to give good results, but where the 
honey season is a long one swarms pay best. Besides, the two 
months in the future are better for swarms to breed and become 
populous than the six past ones. Old swarmed stocks and second 
swarms along -with the prime one will be in better condition for the 
Heather than any unswarmed stock, which with its old queen will 
be a source of annoyance the whole season by its inclination to 
swarm, which is as often as otherwise its ruin. 
Nuclei. 
Owing to the many ways in which they can be 'profitably 
turned to account, these must not be neglected. Form them on or 
about the eighth day after the issue of the prime swarm, by 
dividing the stock into from six to a dozen, according to its 
strength. Nuclei are the bee-keepers’ bank, which he draws upon 
for the purpose of superseding an effete one, or by gradually 
adding the condemned ones’ brood combs to it, or by working two 
queens in one hive. Swarming is prevented, supers are more 
quickly filled, and the trouble we would have with uncertain 
queens is avoided ; the profit is greater, interest and capital going 
all to the bee keeper. 
Appliances at Swarming. 
It may be interesting to mention several indispensables at 
swarming time, and which are especially useful where hedges and 
trees abound. To dislodge bees from any inconvenient place where 
they have hived, or to hasten them entering the hiving apparatus, a 
long pole or a series of them arranged so as to be easily fastened 
together, or extension having a brush or some feathers at the 
extreme end saturated with carbolic acid held beneath the cluster, 
will cause the bees to ascend the hiver quickly. It will also prevent 
bees entering chinks, where they would be lost, or difficult to get 
out. 
Another thing I have used for many years is my fruit shaker, 
which is also a long pole. The hook should be broadish and 
rounded a little on the inside, so that the bark of the tree or 
its branch is not injured in any way by its application, whether it 
be the shaking of bees or of fruit. Steps or light ladders should 
be at hand in every apiary where there are trees or fences to get 
over without injuring them. 
Preserving Queens. 
Although I have in a previous article recommended tumblers 
for this purpose, sections filled with comb and partly with honey 
are, perhaps, preferable. The top and both ends should be covered 
with one-eighth wood a little broader than the section to form a 
check for the glass on both sides, and to prevent the possible 
escape of bees or queen. A piece of queen-excluder zinc the size 
of the bottom completes the affair. 
After Swarming. 
Hives manipulated or divided sooner than the eighth to the 
tenth day after the fiist swarm issues suffer greatly through loss of 
eggs and unsealed larvae by the bees eating these. This should be 
kept in mind. After the eight days are up all the royal cells, as 
well as those of the workers, will be sealed. The former should 
then be excised and inserted somewhere in the prepared sections— 
one in each. Place these on the top of the hive, where the bees, 
induced by the honey, will ascend, and care for the cells and queens 
after they are hatched. No queen must be allowed to be at large 
in the hive, or swarming will assuredly take place. The bee-keeper 
must exercise his judgment how to dispose of these queens, 
whether they be employed to form into nuclei or preserved to be 
introduced to stocks after the issuing of the first swarm. But I 
warn the reader that while this may be successfully accomplished, 
and the newly introduced queen fertilised and begun to lay, she 
may be summarily ejected, and probably a drone-laying queen or 
bee supersede her. It is never safe to introduce a queen to a hive 
having eggs or larvae unsealed, especially where queens have been 
previously under formation. This is the reason so many queens 
have been lost and hives ruined. 
Winter Eke 
or raiser is a very old custom of wintering bees in Scotland— 
not very long adopted in England, and but lately in America. 
The eke, as used in Scotland, was shallow, and the entrance kept 
narrow ; but the modern bee-keepers give a wide entrance, to 
prevent dead bees completely blocking up the entrance, and to 
eause a draught to keep the combs dry. This is quite plausible 
theoretically, but very faulty practically, which I discovered with 
my first trial many years ago. During our humid weather in 
winter hives with much doorway admit a great deal of moisture, 
which moulds the combs and pollen, turns the honey to vinegar, 
causes the bees through the unnecessarily low temperature and 
spoiled food to become unhealthy, and if the cold is protracted to 
die. The contrast to the above-mentioned hives, which I have 
seen, is so great that the owners of them have resolved they will 
not be misled by “ modern ideas ” again.—A Lanarkshire Bee¬ 
keeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIYED. 
Messrs. J. Cheat & Sons, Lowfield Nurseries, Crawley.— Trees, 
Shru bs, Fruit Trees, Roses, <fyc . i«w*rW* 
Mr. G. Chaundy, William Street, New Marston, near’ Oxford.— 
Carnations and Picotees. 
Mr. H. Geggie, Bury, Lancashire.— Carnations, Picotees, Pyrethrums 
and Primulas. 
%®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 lo 
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 
Vegetables at Frogmore (27. B .').—You are not to be blamed 
for failing to understand the sentence on page 230 last week:— 
“11 acres are devoted to Potatoes, Asparagus, Seakale ; and even Horse¬ 
radish are grown by the acre.” The printers did not exercise their 
usual care in following editorial instructions. The sentence should 
read 11 acres are devoted to Potatoes. Asparagus, Seakale, and 
even Horseradish are grown by the acre.” 
Seedling Carnation (J. A).—It is an attractive yellow ground. 
There are now many of this class, some of which it resembles. You 
might send a few blooms to Mr. Turner at Slough, and ask him if it is 
distinct from those in his large collection. If of no special value as a 
florist’s flower it is well worth keeping as a garden variety. 
Tomatoes not Setting their Fruit (AT. A*.).—The flowers are 
very defective, and their condition is probably occasioned by the exces¬ 
sive vigour of the plants, which is unfavourable to fruit production. 
The only things we can suggest are to keep the house drier, curtail the 
leafage, so as to concentrate the vigour more on the trusses, ventilate 
freely, and fertilise the flowers when they are fully expanded and the 
pollen is ripe. 
Ventilating Vinery (A. S.). —It would not be safe to shut the 
house up close at night whilst a number of Grapes are hanging on the 
Vines and the structure filled with plants. The moisture arising from 
the latter would cause the Grapes to decay. Keep just a little warmth 
in the pipes, and leave the ventilators open an inch or two all night, 
and so maintain a dry, buoyant atmosphere; a high temperature, 
however, must be avoided. Water the plants in the morning, so that all 
moisture can be dried up before night. 
Planting a Slope ( Gardener ).—The material forming the slope 
being stiff clay it will not answer to make large holes in it for planting 
the shrubs, as they will only becomes receptacles for holding water ; or 
if the soil is so porous as to allow the water to escape there will only 
be the good soil in the holes for the shrubs to grow in, and they will 
languish in a year or two after planting. We have tried the plan and 
found it fail. The best plan would be to mix some ashes with the clay 
to the depth of a foot, which will improve its texture, and then cover 
the whole of the slope with a foot or 18 inches depth of good soil. 
Common Laurels pegged down might be the most suitable. Rhododen¬ 
drons would not suit the position, and it is doubtful if the soil would be 
adapted for them. 
Corypha australis Wintering Outdoors (J. Ah).—We have 
known large plants of this species to winter safely in a dry shed with 
the tubs in which they were grown surrounded and covered with dry 
straw and the heads wrapped in mats during severe weather, but the 
leaves were more or less disfigured, quite as much if not more by the 
putting on and removal of the mats as by the cold. It did not succeed 
outdoors, even when planted out, and the roots covered as well as pro¬ 
tected over the head in frosty weather, but the situation was rather 
damp, and success is more likely to be assured in a dry and sheltered 
situation with efficient covering in severe weather. We can* however 
