508 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
June 6, 1895. 
and the bee-keeper will be rewarded with a race of good hardy 
workers, without going to the expense of procuring those that have 
often nothing but their bright markings to recommend them. 
Bees are now working freely on field Beans. These are not 
very plentiful, owing to the severe winter. The honey procured 
from these flowers is of good flavour, and many people prefer it to 
that obtained from White Clover, but being a pale brown in colour 
it does not sell so readily. The Horse Chestnuts and the May are 
now in full bloom, the latter not so good as usual, owing probably 
to the late severe winter. The bees, however, work freely on them, 
and during bright days when the temperature is high collect honey 
of a not very high quality. They also obtain a plentiful supply of 
pollen, which is so necessary for the well-being of the thousands of 
young bees that are now hatching out daily. 
Stocks should now be examined, and those that are well crowded 
with bees should be supered either with sections or shallow frames 
for extracting purposes. Bees are more backward than usual this 
season, and I have heard of no swarms in this locality. Every day 
will now make a great difference in the strength of the various 
stocks, and as I manage my bees on the non-swarming system I 
have for some years past found no difficulty in preventing the 
swarming mania, which is so annoying to bee-keepers when honey 
production is the chief aim. 
I have already supered several of my strongest stocks. The 
bee* commenced working in the supers at once, a proof that they 
are in the right condition for the purpose ; others that are not so 
forward will be assisted with frames of brood and bees from other 
stocks. Bees unite readily at this time of the year without 
sprinkling with syrup, flour, or anything else. It is worse than 
useless supering stocks that are not of sufficient strength. The 
aim should be to have all stocks intended for honey production 
crowded with bees, and with fine weather success will follow. 
PREVENTION OF SWARMING. 
On May 10th I secured a swarm of bees and placed them in a 
straw hive, and being a novice in bee-keeping I should like to know 
how to prevent them from swarming again this season. Would a 
bell-glass fixed on the top for them to work in prevent it ? or could 
I put them in a bar-frame hive ? and how ?—F. G. 
This is the earliest swarm I have heard of this season, and if fed 
with thin syrup during the spell of cold weather experienced a 
fortnight ago the hive should now be nearly full of comb, and if 
the weather is favourable will soon be ready for supering, either 
with a crate of sections, or, if preferred, a bell-glass. But this 
should not be done until the hive is full of comb. Either would, 
in all probability, prevent them swarming again this season. A 
well-filled bell-glass has a very good appearance, but is not so 
serviceable as sections. 
The crate to hold the sections should be made different to those 
in use for frame hives, the bottom of the crate being boarded over, 
only leaving a hole in the centre to fit over the hole on top of the 
hive. This will allow ample space for the admittance of the bees. 
Space must be allowed under the bottom of sections to allow the 
bees to pass from one to the other; cover the whole up warm, so 
that there is no escape of heat. Some of the best sections I have 
seen, and which took first prize in a strong competition, were 
worked on the top of straw skeps and treated as above. 
This would be a better plan than to transfer them to a frame 
hive now, as the combs would be too tender to handle satisfactorily. 
They may be transferred to the hive as soon as the honey flow 
is over, or may be allowed to remain in the straw skep till next 
spring. The first swarm could then be put into a frame hive ; 
three weeks afterwards the bees remaining in the old stock may be 
driven and placed in another frame hive, as there would then be a 
young queen, and all the brood would be hatched out. 
Procure a bar-frame hive holding not less than ten frames 
standard size from one of our good makers who make a speciality 
of these goods, such as Messrs. Neighbour & Sons, High Holborn, 
London. A hive of this size will hold a crate of twenty-one 
sections, and is also useful for placing shallow frames on the top 
for extracting purposes. Afterwards the hives may be home-made, 
but whatever hive or frame is used, have them all made the same 
size, as they are very useful for interchanging and other purposes. 
—An English Bee-keeper. 
GARDENERS’ CHARITABLE AND PROVIDENT 
INSTITUTIONS. 
The Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution. — Secretary, 
Mr. G. J. Ingram, 50, Parliament Street, London, W.C. 
United Horticultural Benefit and Provident Society.— 
Secretary, Mr. W. Collins, 9, Martindale Road, Balham, London, 8.W. 
Royal Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. — Secretary, Mr. A. F. Barron, 
Royal Horticultural Society’s Gardens, Chiswick, London, W. 
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, ae 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. 
Dwarfing Sweet Peas (C. M. P.).—We suspect that topping the 
plants now would not have the effect you desire, but you might try a 
few experimentally. We have seen beautiful beds of Sweet Peas by 
slanting light, twiggy pea sticks over them, somewhat in the form of an 
inverted saucer. These arrested the vertical growth of the plants, and 
with a little guidance and gentle handling the flowering parts were 
evenly distributed about 18 inches from the ground. Rough handling 
causes rupturing of the tissues, and is very injurious. There is not 
sufficient time for answering your other question this week. 
Odontoglossnm clrrbosum Developing Its Spikes Boy'). 
—This depends on the season ; at this time of year the flowers would 
take about three to four weeks from the time the buds are seen. This 
Odontoglossum, however, has a bad habit of occasionally remaining 
stationary for a long time, and we have known spikes to be over six 
months opening. This usually, however, indicates a check, and is some¬ 
times caused by an unduly low temperature during winter. Should 
this happen, it is a very bad practice Lo place the plants in a strong 
heat with a view of remedying matters, as this only serves to weaken 
the plants. 
Chrysanthemums (The Boy), —Cutting down the plant* is not 
the best way to produce the finest blooms, especially of the incurved 
section. Plants so treated produce excellent results for grouping 8r 
decoration where dwarfness is imperative. However, as they are cut 
down you must make the best of them. By all means “ take ” the first 
buds that form after cutting down if they do not show before the middle 
of August. If they do this remove the bud, and run the shoots on to 
the next break. Should there happen to be any naturally late-flowering 
varieties amongst them the buds showing on these before the middle of 
August had better be retained. Pinch off all side or surplus shoots as 
fast as they grow, so that the energy of the plants will be confined to 
the selected stems. 
Treatment of Freeslas (Novice). —In all probability the bulbs 
were not ripened last year. This may have resulted largely from the 
cold wet summer. A strong foliage growth, under the full influence of 
sun and air, is essential after flowering, and after the leaves die down, as 
they must do gradually and not prematurely. The pots containing 
them should be stood in a very sunny position, the soil kept quite dry. 
When the plants are forced early the leaves are often of necessity then 
drawn up tall and thin, when it is almost impossible for large bulbs to 
form and ripen. Your non-flowering plants will be best in a frame, 
with the sashes drawn off on fine days, and nights too; then, if stout 
foliage is developed, large bulbs will be produced; but if the plants are 
already drawn, through being grown in a house, they cannot produce 
bulbs equal to those sold by dealers for producing early flowering 
plants. 
Cucumber Plants Stationary (S. G. Randall). —The Cucumber 
plants had abundance of healthy roots, the soil being a mass of quite 
clean fibres, not any trace of eel worm, and plants with such roots 
usually grow and bear well under suitable cultural conditions. The 
soil is also an excellent medium, plenty of mineral matter in it, so that 
feeding may be practised to almost any extent. The stem of the plant 
was sturdy, short jointed, and the growths corresponded, being perfectly 
free from any parasite, but a solitary green fly. There was no trace of 
fungus on the leaves, which had good substance, the hairs being quite 
normal, even in the yellowish parts, they not being in the least dis¬ 
turbed, as usually is the case when the mycelial hyphse of fungus plants 
pervade the tissues. We failed to discover any threads in these, the 
cells containing active protoplasm and nuclei — that is, they were 
growing. Indeed, we cannot make out anything wrong except the 
yellow colour of the leaves, this being confined to the older ones, and is 
a sort of scorching, which might have been prevented by timely shading, 
for there is no deficiency of chlorophyll in the leaves. We advise 
shading—lightly coating the lights with a wash formed of whiting and 
skim milk, and applying when the glass is dry with a whitewash brush, 
putting on as lightly as possible, so as to diffuse rather than obstruct 
