174 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 21, 1895, 
HE BEE-KEEPER. 
1 -. T^rrr . I ■ I ■ , - r-T- J - T - I ■ I ■ < - » - I - U I ■ 
m 
APIARIAN NOTES. 
The first mild day after the bees have had a flight I shall feed 
a little from beneath, as it is not advisable to cool the hive by 
uncovering the top. For many years I have abandoned top 
feeding, and do not regret it, though exceptions are made with 
certain weak stocks and nuclei in the summer. 
It sometimes happens during cold weather where there is a 
scarcity of honey in the hive bees may appear dead ; but I have 
resuscitated many by taking the hive into a warm room, then when 
they began to move sprinkled them slightly with a little thin 
syrup. In such cases bee-keepers may be able to save stocks still 
living by acting in this simple and easy manner. 
No time should be lost in getting everything in order for the 
coming season, nor should any defects that have been observed be 
overlooked. It frequently happens with those who move their 
bees to the Heather to find themselves short of light packing 
material for supers. A good and cleanly material for the purpose 
is paper or light cardboard cut and bent to lie closely round the 
supers, a piece of gummed paper being employed to fix the ends. 
There is nothing better than paper for keeping out draughts and 
preserving an uniform temperature in supers during the autumn. 
I have taken bees to and from the Heather for nearly half a century, 
and have long since proved that hives suitable for moving about 
have also been the best in the home apiary. 
To those beginning bee-keeping I would say. Think well over 
these things, and do not incur heavy expenses on hives which may 
not meet all the requirements in the different phases of bee¬ 
keeping. 
Those who still use solid floors should provide themselves with 
a few extra, and when a thaw comes have them warm and dry to 
exchange with those dripping with moisture from the perspiration 
of bees, rain, and snowdrift, as damp boards are fatal to bee life. 
Tin scoops, having thin laths fitted to allow the bees to walk on, 
and sip the food from between the laths, are the safest and best 
feeders to use, especially after so severe a winter.—A Lanarkshire 
Bee-keeper. 
SEASONABLE NOTES—THE SEVERE WEATHER. 
A FEW notes on the present extreme spell of cold weather, and 
its probable effect on bees, may be of interest to bee-keepers. 
Having been a close observer of the weather for many years I 
can say that the past ten days has been the most severe in my 
experience. The frost commenced on the last day of the old year, 
and with only two exceptions there has been frost every night 
since. This occurred on the 16th and 17th of January, the 
lowest reading of the thermometer on those dates being 33° and 35° 
respectively. 
The observations are taken from a tested instrument, placed on 
a stand at an elevation of 4 feet. The lowest readings were 
February Gth, 2°; 7th, 3°; 8th, 3°; 9th, 4° ; 10th, 3°; 11th, 9°. In 
the present instance, although we were favoured with bright sunny 
days, there were several degrees of frost the whole of the time. 
At 5 P.M. on the 7th inst. the thermometer registered 27° of frost. 
One remarkable thing about the present severe frost in the 
Midland counties is the amount of bright sunshine there has been 
every day, which has tempted a few stray bees to leave those hives 
that were not shaded, being attracted by the bright sun and the glare 
from the snow. These soon became numbed, and would prove a 
tender morsel to the numerous tits that abound in the neighbour¬ 
hood of my hives, I never saw them so intent on destroying bees 
as during the present storm, darting after them whilst on the wing, 
and alighting on the nearest bush to dissect them. I lately saw 
a single tit catch and devour three bees in less than a minute. It 
shows the amount of damage a few of these birds will do in an 
apiary. During the past three weeks I have destroyed over fifty, 
and still they come. 
It will be interesting to note the difference in the various hives 
for wintering purposes. No doubt there will be some losses, 
particularly from stocks that have run short of stores and others 
that are not protected from the weather. I am not a believer in 
covering up the outsides of frame hives as a protection against the 
weather, and never practise it. My hives all stand singly out in the 
open exposed to all weathers, and they invariably winter well. If 
the bees are kept dry and are well protected with several thick¬ 
nesses of disused carpet, or any warm material, they will come to 
no harm. Cushions of cork dust or chaff make capital warm 
coverings. Bees will stand more cold than many people give them 
credit for.— An English Bee-keeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
W. Atlee, Burpee & Co., Philadelphia.— Farm Annual. 
William Clibran & Son, Altrincham.— AgriGultural Seeds. 
R. Dean, Ranelagh Road, Ealing.— List of Hardy Plants and Seeds. 
Dicksons, Ltd., Chester.— Farm Seeds. 
T. W. Edmunds, Westerham, Kent.— Gcwral Seed List. 
H. J. Jones, Ryecroft Nursery, Hither Green, Lewisham.— Kc7v and, 
Choice Plants. 
A. Morris & Co., Tullow Street, Carlow.— and Plant List. 
J. R. Pearson & Sons, Chilwell Nurseries, Beeston, Notts.— Catalogue 
of Zonal Pelargoniums. 
Sutton & Sons, Reading.— Farmers' Year Pooh and Graziers' Manual. 
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. 
Pruning- Fruit Trees (A. H. E.'). —We advise you to wait till the 
frost departs, and sincerely hope you will not have to wait very long. 
Dressing Peach Trees (6*. R.'). —The answer on page 153, last 
week, under the heading of “ A Good Dressing for Fruit Trees,” exactly 
meets your case ; but instead of “one part” read 1 pint of gas tar for 
mixing with the other ingredients. 
Roman Hyacinths Unsatisfactory (D. A .).—There is no disease 
in the bulbs. They do not appear to have made any roots worth men¬ 
tioning, and that would account for the poorness of the growth and 
the extreme meagreness of the spikes, but as these are what they have 
been formed in embryo in the preceding year to their development, the 
growth of the plants must have been arrested whilst forming such 
embryo, hence the indifferent growth and flower spikes. The roots alse 
are formed in embryo—that is, the cells from which they proceed are 
specialised, and these also have disappeared. Whether from disease or 
other cause these embryonic cells have collapsed we are unable to say, 
but it manifestly had occurred before the bulbs were potted, as there is 
only the smallest evidence of roots having been emitted. 
Caustic Soda and Potash Wash for Peach Trees {Constant 
Reader'). —Now that the trees are more or less moving, and the wood 
certainly not overripe in cold houses after last year’s dullness, the 
caustic soda and potash wash should not be used at all on Peach tree® 
for the destruction of scale. It is a somewhat dangerous -w'ash to use in 
this country, as the wood of Peach, Nectarine, also Apricot trees, is 
never so hard as that of the Californian orchards ; yet these imported 
prescriptions are advised as if they were of English origin, and had been 
extensively used. On trees quite dormant, and with the wood thoroughly 
ripened, the wash does no harm to the hardier fruits, but on the tender 
bark it requires to be used with great care. If you like to risk the 
wash you may use half pound caustic soda and half pound pearlash to 
12 gallons of water, using the solution in the form of a spray, yet 
wetting every part. The caustic soda should have a strength of 98 per 
cent., and the pearlash be of the first quality. We do not, however, 
advise its use, for the reasons given, at this time of year. It would 
be better to employ a petroleum emulsion (see below) than the alkali 
wash. 
Gooseberry Red Spider (Constant Reader). —Lime water made 
by slaking a peck of quicklime in a tub and pouring on it 30 gallons 
of water, stirring well, and letting stand four days or a week, when the 
bushes infested may be syringed with the clear lime water. Soot water 
prepared in a similar way, but doubling the quantity of water, is also 
effleacious, and both being quite clear no deposit is left upon the berries. 
Or you may use the following :—1 lb. softsoap, dissolved by boiling in 
a gallon of water; remove from the fire, and add half a gill (about an 
ordinary wineglassful) of petroleum, and stir briskly with a birch 
switch so as to secure the thorough amalgamation of the oil, then 
dilute to 8 gallons for use, applying with a fine-rose syringe, or better 
by a spraying apparatus. This is quite strong enough to use when the 
foliage is first pushing and the crop just appearing. When the first 
leaves are full-sized you may use double the quantity of petroleum to 
the same amount of softsoap and water, which is the strength desirable 
for the destruction of scale. 
