40 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 10,189fi. 
except when we have occasion to force them into flower, we treat them 
more as hardy plants we should find better and healthier examples in 
most gardens. The plants should be watered carefully and syringed 
occasionally to keep their foliage free from thrips. They do best 
standing on a cool, moist base, where fire heat only employed to 
exclude frost. 
Saivla eresnerseflora.— Where this is grown the flower buds will 
just be visible, and the plants, if well rooted, will be benefited by a 
little chemical manure applied to the surface of the soil. On no 
account should they suffer from an insufficient food supply, or the 
flowers will be small. Cuttings from near the base may be taken, 
inserted in thumb pots, and rooted under hand-lights in a cool house. 
They make larger and better plants than those rooted in heat in the 
spring. 
Cbrysantbemums. —Where large blooms of exhibition quality 
are needed cuttings should be inserted without delay. Good sturdy 
shoots in small pots will root freely in sandy soil and a little leaf 
mould, watered, and then placed under hand-lights in a cool house. 
Keep the hand-lights close, and use no fire heat except to exclude frost. 
Very few go off under this treatment. The cuttings intended for 
bushes need not be inserted for some weeks yet. Weakly cuttings 
seldom root freely, or if they do the best results are not obtained from 
them. 
Callas.— Plants that are already throwing up their spathes will 
soon unfold them if placed in gentle warmth. They should not be 
forced in strong heat, as the plants become weak and the flowers are 
often poor in colour. Whereier they are forced a little air daily when 
the weather is favourable should be given in order to maintain the 
plants as sturdy as possible. 
■ ■ _ ___ 
m BEE-K^EPBR. 
1 
APIARIAN NOTES. 
Hints for 1895. 
A FEW days ago whilst searching amongst old bee literature for 
information I discovered several articles by a great author on bee 
matters, two of which I take as my text. One article advocated 
the theory that bees had first to store their honey in the empty 
cells in the lower part of the hive, after which it had to be carried 
to the supers, in order that it may be “ ripened ” and made fit for 
use. The other advised the removal of combs and contracting 
the hive, so that the honey would be stored at once in the supers ! 
In order to keep on the right track, yet to move forward, I 
advise all concerned, whatever their calling may be, while sticking 
fast to what they know to be good, to strike off the beaten path, 
make search, and experiment after truth and knowledge in lines of 
their own. Bees must have attention, but do not require the 
amount nor expense we read of. To avoid both, they should be 
attended to at the right time, and everything studied with economy. 
Bees do not need more help from man to carry on the internal 
economy of the hive than to provide them with a comfortable 
dwelling containing ample provisions, which will tide them over 
from September to May or June. Daring that time, if kept wind 
and water-tight, and if no disease is present, there will be no dead 
bees to stop the entrance, or along with damp to make the hive a 
putrid mass. Feeding bees at times they do not require it, is 
tantamount to giving medicine to man—doing good when necessary, 
but harm when it is not. 
As important as the above towards profit is the size of the hive. 
Every bee keeper should know, but judging by such writings as I 
have quoted above, many persons have not this very essential 
knowledge or they would not recommend hives which have barely 
room to contain 20,000 eggs, larvae, and sealed maturing bees, so 
that instead of 4000 bees hatching daily there cannot be more than 
1000 in the height of the season. On these points rests nearly the 
whole matter of successful bee-husbandry, but which few com¬ 
paratively speaking act up to. 
1894, go far as I have observed, has not given anything new, but 
rather a harking back to old things. Because bees do well and 
please their masters, the latter should learn whether they cannot 
do better. In these times of great competition we cannot afford 
to do things by halves, or to have any shortcomings whatever, 
whether it be in the production or in the produce ; therefore, 
“ whatever is worth doing, let it be done well.” 
Young queens, it must be borne in mind, are of the greatest 
moment so far as profit is concerned, and bee-keepers should not 
keep them longer than twelve months. I have bad queens six 
years of age, but they were kept as breeders. Commence to raise 
queens as early in the season as circumstances will permit to take 
the place of swarmed queens in old stocks, or to supersede any 
■which luay be to the mind of the bee-keeper not in accordance 
with his wishes. 
It does not matter, so far as fertility or longevity is concerned, 
whether queens are raised during May or September. Late-bred 
queens in some seasons do not mate, and in all cases queens are 
less fertile after they have deposited eggs from January till June, 
so that at the last date it is advisable to depose those which have 
done their best, and introduce a young but fertilised one. 
Before closing I wish to emphasise the fact that bees are young, 
metaphorically speaking, until their wings become defective, so 
that the more rest bees have the longer they are kept young. 
Feeding and stifling bees in too small hives are both means to a 
bad end, and must be stringently avoided.—A Lanarkshire 
Bee-keeper. 
HUNGER SWARMS—SEASONABLE NOTES. 
A CORRESPONDENT reports a swarm of bees in December, and 
the event is believed to be unparalleled. This no doubt would 
be what is termed a hunger swarm, which is not at alt uncommon 
at this time of the year, more particularly when the weather is. 
mild, the bees having consumed all their stores ; and if they 
remain in their old quarters it would mean death to all of them, so 
Nature very wisely warns them to seek a better home. 
The result is they swarm and cluster on a neighbouring bush,, 
and are hived by some intelligent bee-keeper, who probably has a 
few spare combs of sealed stores, or if no sealed stores are on 
hand, some frames of fully drawn out combs. These with a cake 
or two of candy as advised last week, will cause them to at once 
settle in their new home, and if kept warm and dry, will come out 
strong and healthy the following spring. It would be useless 
putting a swarm of that kind into an empty hive at this time of 
the year, as it would be impossible for them to build combs, and 
they would soon die of cold and starvation. 
With the advent of the new year a sudden change occurred in 
the weather. High winds were followed by a fall of snow and 
severe frosts. As there is considerable warmth under a covering 
of snow, so long as the frosts last, it is not advisable to clear the 
snow off the tops of the hives, but directly a thaw sets in all should 
at once be removed, as the moisture from the slowly melting snow 
will penetrate through the smallest crevice much more than it ever 
does from a downpour of rain. 
It is better to clear away the snow from the entrance of the 
hive daily, as those that have no porch to protect the entrance will 
be blocked This will often entice the bees to the floor boards 
many of them will be numbed, unable to return to the cluster, 
and will die. In strong stocks the heat from the bees in the hive 
will cause the snow to melt at the entrance, which will not be an 
advantage to the colony, as the drier they are kept the better.— 
An English Bee-keeper. 
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. 
Fruit Trees and Frost (Z). It. W .').—If the trees are “ laid in,” 
that is if a trench made and the roots placed in it (the trees being close 
together) and then well covered with unfrozen soil, there they may 
remain till the frost departs, and the ground is in good condition for 
planting. If the ground is “ like iron ” when the trees arrive they will 
not be injured by remaining in the bundles just as they come for a week 
or ten days. If they can be placed in a shed the bundles may be 
opened, liberating the tops, but retaining the packing material round 
the roots, and if this is slightly damp, and further covered thickly with 
dry litter to exclude frost, the trees will sustain no injury. We have 
had them similarly stored for more than two months, and in taking 
them out for planting in spring found numbers of white rootlets starting 
in the litter. Planting was done quickly, yet carefully, with these 
rootlets quite fresh, the long branches shortened, and the trees made as 
good growth as could be desired in the summer. 
