324 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
April 11, 1895. 
used should not be raised above the rim of the pot ; on the contrary, 
sufficient room must be left for water, and then 2 or 3 inches depth of 
common wood moss placed on the surface. They grow freely if potted 
in this material alone. A rest in a lower temperature, then ample heat 
and moisture while growing, are chief points to be attended to by the 
cultivator. If the syringe is used freely they will form a mass of roots 
in the surface moss. 
Anthurlum Andreanum.— This is also valuable for winter-flower¬ 
ing, and plants can be more effectively used in 6 and 7-inch pots than 
in those of a larger size. Large plants may be cut up and the stock 
increased without much trouble or risk of loss, or the stem of a good 
specimen can be notched and mossed round, and when roots have 
formed be taken off and placed in a 6-inch pot. The remaining 
portion of the stem should be cut into lengths of one or two joints—an 
eye to each piece is all that is needed. These quickly form roots, and 
by the end of the season make capital plants. If the old plant is cut 
over near the surface three or four shoots will soon start, and a better 
plant than ever will be produced. The cuttings root freely in sand 
and moss. Established plants will grow well in any coarse open 
material. 
APIARIAN NOTES. 
The Apiary. 
The weather still continues cold, bleak, and sunless, with from 
T to 10° of frost on several mornings. It was the 2nd of April 
before a bee was observed with natural pollen, and the weather is 
so unfavourable to bees outside that I have deemed it advisable 
not to give peameal. Such adverse weather, so fatal to bees, is the 
reason I have so long advocated not to feed in the spring, unless in 
cases of absolute necessity, nor to make any alteration whatever of 
the hive wrappings. Let the temperature and the increase of bees 
be the factor to regulate these matters. 
Youthful Queens. 
It is only within the past year or two that the modern school 
relinquished the idea that queens were at their best when three 
years old, and this in spite of the fact that for perhaps centuries 
Scottish bee-keepers have kept no other queens for stocks than 
those of the current year, always destroying those bred in June 
and July of the previous year the following season. I have had 
four years old, and on one occasion had one (an Italian) which 
bred seven seasons, but that does not induce me to keep queens 
longer than twelve months. After that age, if the bee keeper has 
managed them aright previously, they are practically worthless. 
I scarcely, if ever, lost a queen under a year old, but have at 
least to the extent of 60 per cent, of those two years old, while at 
three few survived. Queens kept in hives too small for their 
capacity in egg-laying may do equally as well the second year of 
their life as in the first year ; but that need not raise the contention 
that queens are as good the second as the first year, because if a 
queen is hampered in her laying the first year she will naturally 
be the better able to continue as good for another year. 
But this IS the great point of my argument. A hive of bees 
only half, or less than the size it should be, cannot possibly gather 
half the quantity of honey a full-sized hive with a youthful queen 
will yield. The foregoing has been written in answer to several 
queries, “ C. R.’s ” being one, but will be useful to others who still 
cling to antiquated ideas.—A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
REASONABLE NOTES. 
The present is a very trying time for bees, as during the past 
fortnight the weather has been dull and cold. High winds, chiefly 
from the north, have been very prevalent ; only once during that 
time, and then only for a few hours, was the wind in the south. 
Heavy showers of hail, sleet, and rain have been of almost daily 
occurrence, a great change from the bright, spring-like weather 
experienced in the early days of March. Bees were then flying in 
great numbers. Pollen was being collected freely from the early 
spring flowers. Chief among these were the Winter Aconite, 
Snowdrop, and Crocus, and later from the Palm Willow. This is 
one of the best early pollen-producing trees I am acquainted with, 
and, like all the Salix tribe, delights in ample moisture. 
Bees will travel a long distance to collect the pollen from this 
variety, and it is really surprising the quantity they will secure 
even from a few small trees. If they can be planted within a few 
hundred yards of the apiary it is better, as during the early spring 
when cold showers are so prevalent, and bees when heavily laden 
with pollen are caught in a heavy shower before they can reach 
their hives, are beaten to the ground never to rise again. A great 
number of bees are lost in this manner, which shows the advantage 
of having the flowers for providing the pollen planted within 
reasonable distance of their hives. 
In the summer, after a heavy thunder shower, when the bees 
are working probably a mile or more from home and are over¬ 
taken by the storm, they are beaten down by the thousand ; but at 
that time of the year the sun comes out bright and warm, the bees 
soon dry themselves, and are not much the worse for the mishapv 
Bees I have noticed are often weatherwise, as on the appearance 
of a storm they take wing homewards, and I have seen the sky 
quite darkened for a few minutes by the number of bees returning 
to their hives. 
Great care should now be taken that none of the stocks suffer 
for the want of supplies, as all will depend on the spring treatment 
whether the bees are strong and in good condition to gather a. 
surplus when the honey flow comes. The warm weather experienced 
in the early part of last month started the majority of stocks 
breeding freely, and unless they are kept warm and supplied with 
ample food they must eventually perish. 
It is a great advantage to have a few frames of sealed stores 
on hand, and if any doubt exist as to a particular stock, turn 
the cover back for a few inches and take out the first frame or 
two, and then quickly draw the other frames back until reaching 
the cluster, insert the full frame, having previously uncapped a 
few inches of the sealed stores. This will keep them in good 
condition, and is much better than feeding with syrup or candy,, 
as the less the bees are handled, particularly at this time of the 
year, the better. The next best plan is to insert a cake of soft 
candy under the quilt directly over the cluster, or if this is not 
available feed from the top of hive with thin syrup, which should 
be supplied warm in a bottle feeder. Any wide-mouthed bottle 
will answer the purpose. Tie a piece of muslin over the mouth. 
Cut a hole through the quilt large enough to admit the bottle,, 
putting a piece of perforated zinc over the hole underneath the 
quilt on top of the frames, as this will prevent the bees escaping 
when removing the feeder, invert the bottle directly on the top 
of the quilt ; the muslin will prevent the syrup escaping, and 
will allow the bees to satisfy all their requirements without any 
loss of heat.— An English Bee-keeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Charlesworth & Co., Heaton, Bradford.— Orchid List. 
J. Veitch & Sons, Eoyal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea.— General Plant 
Catalogue. 
All correspondence should be directed either to “ Thh 
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. 
Rat Poison (72. B ).—This may be procured from Messrs. Sanford 
and Son, Sandy, Beds. 
Salpbate of Iron (IF. A7).—The sample is what you suggest,, 
and is similar to that which is used to some extent for agricultural and 
horticultural purposes. 
Chrysanthemum Zi. Canning (./. AT.).—This variety was raised 
by a Mr. Craig, and placed in commerce in 1888. In the National 
Chrysanthemum Society’s official catalogue the name is given as at the 
head of this paragraph. 
Cucumber Disease and Various Remedies (T. J. G .'),—You 
will find instructions for using soluble phenyle on page 211, March 14th. 
It was again referred to on page 283, March 29th, in reply to “ J. W.’' 
who promptly used it with satisfactory results. Sulphate of iron and 
kainit will be found advised to “ F. W.” in the present issue. Corrosive 
sublimate solution is referred to, and methods of using it described on 
