282 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
March 28, 1895. 
r 
THE APIARY. 
My hives are all good condition. The frost is not yet fully out 
of the ground, and there is as yet a paucity of flowers. Breeding 
is going on briskly in all the well provisioned hives, their dry 
interior favouring this, while the foreign element in my apiary 
gives me better working hives, and consequently a greater yield of 
honey than I can obtain from English bees. This is my experience 
of thirty years. 
Very few of my stocks require feeding ; those which do so will 
be fed from a tin scoop from beneath. Top feeding, unless during 
summer in the case of nuclei, I do not approve of. Many 
beginners, who heeded the teachers of the top-feeding system last 
autumn, notwithstanding the mild months of November and 
December, record the loss of their hives ; with nicely packed 
crowns, with porous material and under feeders, the loss would 
have been avoided. Circumstances could be explained to prove 
exceptions, but where there are risks it is better to avoid them ; at 
least, such is the experience of—A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
SEASONABLE NOTES. 
A THOROUGH overhaul of all stocks in my apiary shows the 
fallacy of a severe winter being injurious to bees, also that it is 
not necessary to have the hives facing due south. Some of mine 
are in that aspect, others due east, but the majority, for certain 
reasons which I need not explain here, are facing due west. In 
this locality the prevailing high and cold winds come from that 
direction. People are often surprised at the bees doing so well, 
thus showing that it is not the cold or high winds, which in this 
case blow direct into the entrances, that is fatal to their well being. 
In fact, other things being favourable, such as dry well-made hives 
with ample warm covering on the top of the frames, high winds 
and cold weather are advantageous rather than otherwise. 
Of course, all stocks must be well prepared with ample stores 
to come safely through a severe winter like the last one, and the 
nearer one can imitate Nature in this respect the better. Were 
bees left to themselves, and their stores not interfered with in any 
ordinary season, there would be numbers of sealed-over natural 
stores. If the bee-keeper deprives them of that, he should 
supply them with something of equal value for their requirements 
throughout the winter. 
The most satisfactory way of doing this is to feed artificially as 
soon as the honey flow ia over, as the stores will then be sealed over 
the same as their natural stores were before they were deprived of 
them, and the earlier this is done the better. If the honey flow is 
over with the decline of the White Clover and the Limes, as it is 
in my case, and is never later than the end of July, I feed at 
once with the best white cane sugar that can be procured. There 
are several advantages of doing it thus early, as besides coming 
nearer their natural supplies, the bees take the syrup more readily 
than they do later in the season when the nights are getting cold. 
Very little, if any dysentery will take place, which in some 
seasons is very prevalent when bees are fed late, and the weather is 
too cold for them to properly seal their stores. By working on 
these lines very few losses will occur in any well managed apiary. 
I am convinced that it is owing to these small details in manage¬ 
ment that my beet have wintered so well, and have come out so 
strong and healthy after being confined to their hives for so many 
weeks. Some stocks I find have used much more of their stores 
than others. By moving a frame of stores from those that had 
enough and to spare to those that were short, has kept all in good 
condition, and ia better than feeding with syrup. 
Bees Unsatisfactory. 
Enclosed find a piece of comb which I found in a hive in the 
autumn. Will you inform me through the medium of your valuable 
paper whether the bees are suffering from foul brood ? The bees 
appear strong and healthy, but do not work freely. 
The comb forwarded is not affected with foul brood, and as the 
bees have not worked satisfactorily I am inclined to think there 
must be some fault with the queen. When the queen is old and 
few eggs are being laid, bees will often stay about the hive instead 
of working freely. In that case it is better to remove the queen at 
the first favourable opportunity and rear a young one, but this 
should not bddone before May. It would be better to rear a queen 
from a good working colony than from a stock that has not been 
satisfactory owing to the queen being aged or otherwise.— 
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 sbould 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. 
Centrostemma ( W. Keay), —The Centrostemmas are nearly related 
to the Iloyas, but of erect, shrubby habit. They succeed in a cool stove 
or warm greenhouse temperature, and as a rooting medium prefer a 
mixture of turfy loam, peat, and crushed lime rubbish. A sunny 
position is desirable, and the soil should be kept rather dry than very 
wet during the winter. 
Examinations In Horticulture {Tlios. Lewis'). —As we have 
more than once stated, all requisite information can be obtained from 
the Secretary, Eoyal Horticultural Society, 117, Victoria Street, West¬ 
minster, S.W. The questions are not disclosed till the students 
assemble in an appointed room, and they must answer them within the 
time then specified without reference to any books or leaving the room. 
Phenyle for Cucumber Disease (J. TF.).—Soluble phenyle 
will destroy eelworm in the soil, but it will not cure infested plants. 
The thing is to prevent attacks by thorough disinfection of the soil and 
structure, and in no other way is it possible to avoid infection. The 
way to use phenyle is given in our issue of March 14th (page 241), and 
employed in the manner described is thoroughly eflScacious, the stronger 
solution being used for disinfecting purposes. 
Harclssus Horsefieldl and Similar Varieties, Transferrlngr 
from A.lluvlal to Very Sandy Soil {J. K.). —Although Narcissus 
succeed fairly well in light sandy soil, they like something more sub¬ 
stantial as a base or subsoil, and can only he kept in satisfactory 
condition by liberal dressings of manure. On such soil we found 
nothing better than cow manure, a good dressing (40 tons per acre, 
quarter of a ton per rod) being given and worked into the soil to a depth 
of a foot before planting. This supplies humus and nutrient matter, 
and suffices for a number of years, or until they require taking up for 
division, assorting, and replanting. We, however, also gave a top-dressing 
each autumn of thoroughly decayed manure, and the Narcissus throve 
much better than on heavier and richer soil. 
Potatoes on Very Sandy Soil (^Radcliffe). —Potatoes can be 
grown well on soils that produce fair crops of Carrots, Peas, and 
Clover. The early varieties, such as Ashleaf, do well, and coming in 
early bring good returns, while Magnum Bonum yields heavily for 
late use, the tubers being of good quality and even size. Bone and blood 
manure are excellent for such soils, also native guano, as they supply a 
certain amount of humus. About 5 cwt. should be used per acre. As 
the land may contain a fair amount of humus from crop residues, the 
following may be all that is required :—Kainit, 1^ cwt. ; nitrate of soda, 
1 cwt.; bone superphosphate, 2^ cwt. ; iron sulphate i cwt., mixed, per 
acre, applying at the time of setting. The nitrate of soda should be 
crushed fine, so as to secure thorough mixture and even distribution. 
As regards the business matter, you must take what course you think 
best. It is proverbially difficult for outsiders to advise in such matters. 
Funcrus on Tomatoes—Useful Preventives (IF. M. L. il/.).— 
1, Employ sufficient fire heat to maintain a somewhat dry atmosphere. 
2, Pick off the much-affected leaves and burn them. 3, Spray (not 
syringe) the plants thoroughly on the under as well as the upper surfaces 
of the leaves with Bordeaux mixture, using a weak one, say 2 ozs. of 
sulphate of copper dissolved in half a gallon of water in a vessel by 
itself ; slacking 2 ozs. of quicklime in another vessel, and forming into 
a thin whitewash ; then pour this into the vessel containing the sulphate 
of copper solution, then add enough water to make 3J gallons; stir 
well, strain through a hair sieve, and apply to every part of the plants, 
coating them evenly with the thinnest possible film of the Bordeaux 
mixture, also every part of the house. The lime must be quite fresh 
and the sulphate pure. It may be necessary to repeat the spraying in 
about a week or ten days. Other methods are—4, Dissolve IJ oz. of 
carbonate of copper (precipitated) in a pint of liquid ammonia, and 
mix 1 fluid oz. to IJ gallon of water for spraying. 5, Dust thoroughly 
and frequently with anti-blight powder. Mr. Robert Fenn keeps his 
plants perfectly free from the fungus with powder that he obtains from 
Messrs. Barr & Son, Covent Garden. Whatever may be used must be 
applied in time as a preventive, as when the enemy establishes itself in 
the leaves it is obviously master of the positie n. 
