230 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
March 23, 1894. 
Sprouts, sow the seed either on a mild hotbed or in boxes, and place under 
glass. Thus treated every sound seed will germinate, the seedlings will 
escape slugs and Turnip flea, and be soon fit for pricking out on a warm 
border. If Sprouting Broccoli is grown in quantity, and it is very hardy 
and serviceable, seed of this also may well be sown under glass, but 
midseason and late Broccoli, Borecole, Savoys, and Chou de Burghley 
should not be raised nearly so early. Late in April or early in May is, 
as a rule, soon enough to sow seeds of these. The plants only spoil in 
the seed beds when raised too early. 
Sowing* Tomato Seed. — It is not a good practice to raise 
Tomato plants intended for the open air at the same time as those 
wanted for house culture. Kept in small pots till the stems are very 
hard and the plants generally starved they are a long time in recovering, 
late crops resulting accordingly. Sow the seed now or during the next 
week thinly in pots or pans, and keep the seedlings growing steadily and 
strongly till the time arrives for planting them out. Most varieties 
succeed, or would do so if no disease affected them ; but special mention 
might be made of Earliest of All, Sensation, Conference, Al, Lady Bird, 
Laxton’s Open Air, and Challenger. Golden Queen and Blenheim 
Orange are fine yellow varieties, which also succeed well against sunny 
walls. 
Seakale Cuttings.— Cuttings of strong roots or thongs will grow 
if placed direct in the open ground, but stronger plants result if the 
cuttings are first started in boxes. Cut the roots into 3-inch lengths, 
and snip off a short slice from the thinnest end by way of a guide when 
dibbling them in. Ordinary bedding plant boxes answer well, filling 
these with good light soil. Make this firm and dibble in the cuttings 
thickly sliced end downwards, and only leave the tops just exposed. 
Top and bottom growth soon commencing with the aid of a very little 
warmth, and the plants must be put out before becoming matted 
together. Lily White is the best form to grow. 
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% 
< ■ ■ 
APIARIAN NOTES. 
Bees and the Weather. 
The weather, which has been of a boisterous nature for some 
time past, culminated in storms of hail accompanied with thunder on 
the 11th inst. At the time of writing the weather continues 
unsettled, but the barometer is rising gradually, and the wind is 
calm, BO I hope spring will usher in a glorious change, and flowers 
rapidly expand. The earliest springs are not always the best for 
bees, but 1894 has been an exceptional season so far as it has gone. 
Early in some things yet late in others, few of them being allowed 
to show their charms for want of sunshine, while the storms ruined 
almost every flower, and thousands of bees fell before their fury. 
Breeding has been going on extensively during the whole winter. 
Although many bees have been lost, the hives appear as strong as 
they were in the autumn, and I have no doubt with milder weather for 
Borne weeks to come they will be in good strength by the time the 
fruit trees are in blossom. 
Robber Bbes. 
Robbing weak and queenless hives will be attempted by stronger 
ones. The bee-keeper ought, therefore, to keep an eye on this, and 
check any attempt at the beginning, for although bees are not so 
apt to rob during the spring as in the autumn, nevertheless, once 
they begin, it is not an easy matter to stop them. Moreover, they do 
injury to themselves and to the rest of the hives, for the constant 
annoyance prevents weaker hives working. Be careful to avoid 
spilling syrup about, or leaving it in feeders throughout the daytime, 
especially with weak hives, and upon no pretext whatever attempt 
that questionable proceeding of outdoor feeding. It does no good, 
but much harm proceeds from the practice. 
Keep weak hives’ entrances contracted consistent with the number 
of bees, and give queenless and drone-breeding hives something to 
work for in the shape of queen-rearing, or join them to an adjacent 
hive, with all necessary precautions to prevent slaughter. A 
thorough saturation of the bees with syrup or honey will be effectual 
if thrown together when fully gorged. 
Trapping Bees. 
Catching fertile workers and drone-breeding queens is not often 
an easy task. The former is well nigh impossible, while the latter 
are sometimes so slender and small that the majority of bee-keepers 
cannot detect or catch them. In fact, these drone-breeding bees are 
mostly shy, cunning, and quick in their movements, always attempt¬ 
ing to elude the eyes and hands of the bee-keecer. When these 
bees are so numerous in the hives to make it worth while to 
bother with them adopt the following plan :—If the hive is of one 
division put a sheet of perforated zinc No. 8 in the middle of the 
hive, brush the bees from one half of the combs, keeping every bee 
in the other half. Then cover the hive, and place a trap on the 
entrance to entice the bees out. They cannot re-enter, but will 
take up their abode amongst the bare combs. The operation should 
be done on a fine day, when the maj ority of the bees are trapped out 
from their queen or fertile worker. Remove the combs and bees, 
putting them into an empty hive, and stand it near the one trapped. 
The bees will naturally take to their original entrance and combs, 
while the other half will have very few bees, and the queen will be 
easily detected, when she should be killed. If it be a fertile worker 
allow one or more of the brood combs to remain to induce her to 
stay, but all the rest return to the original hive, along with a frame of 
brood or a piece of brood comb with eggs inserted in one of their 
own frames. They will set to work immediately and raise one 
or more queens. 
If the hive is of two or more divisions, after making sure the 
queen is not in the under one, place the sheet of perforated zinc 
between the first and second divisions, keeping the original entrance 
in its primary state, but put the trap on the second or third entrance. 
When most of the bees are enticed out from their queen or fertile 
worker remove the combs as advised above in the single-divisioned 
hive, replacing as many of the combs as possible, alwaysimaking sure 
the laying bee is under your control. A piece of comb containing 
eggs and larvse and placed amongst the trapped bees will insure 
queen-rearing. 
The Best Trap. 
I have found nothing better than the original trap described in 
the Cottage Gardener long ago, but instead of glass, talc, or horn 1 
prefer thin tin or other sheet metal. I bend pieces cut about 
2 inches by i inch in the middle over a wire, tapering the upper half 
so that it does not hinder the rise and fall of the traps. After they 
are all bent I clip a little piece off each side, so that the centre at 
the hinge is broadest. I then fix the wire with the traps to little 
blocks 2 inches long by f inch high by J inch thick, covering both 
sides with a thin board. The wire carrying the traps is passed 
through a hole near the top of the thick pieces, the trap lying at an 
angle of about 45°. A thick piece of board bevelled and covered on 
the top answers very well.—A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
W. & J. Birkenhead, Fern Nursery, Sale, near Manchester .—Ferns 
and Selaginellas. 
W. Atlee Burpee & Co., Philadelphia, U.S.A .—Sweet Peas. 
Charles Clark & Co,, 20, Great St. Helens, London, E.C .—List of 
Spraying Appliances. 
W. A. Manda, South Orange, New Jersey, U.S.A .—Pocket Garden 
Dictionary. 
T. Smith, Daisy Hill Nursery, Newry.—jHizreZy Alpine and Her. 
baceous Plants. 
*. 3 **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 subject* 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. 
Hardy Flowers (^Inquirer"). — We have received your compre¬ 
hensive request, but it cannot be inserted this week ; and in the mean¬ 
time you will, perhaps, favour us with your name and address, which 
we presume were inadvertently omitted. 
Graftlnr Paradise Stocks (J. .B.).—The stocks having been 
planted at the beginning of the year will not start into growth so t arly 
as those which have not been moved, and should not be worked until 
the sap flows more freely—say, at the end of this month or eariy in 
April. It may be done when the buds commence breaking, taking care 
to keep the scions quite dormant, as they will by inserting in damp soil 
or sand on the north side of a wall or fence. Whip grafting is the best 
method for small stocks, and it can be practised on much smaller stocks 
than crown grafting. The grafts should be inserted ab ut 6 inches 
from the soil, as it is necessary the trees have a clear stem above the 
ground to derive the benefit of the stock. Cover the joint wi’h grafting 
wax after securing the scion with bast. 
