254 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September IS, 1838. 
I have repeatedly shown that where bees are managed in a proper 
manner for profit they will increase, and what else can he done 
with the surplus than brimstone them after every bee-keeper has 
his proper number, and has learned how to maintain it and increase 
it, as it should be where profit is the aim ? I can readily see where 
surplus bees can be saved under the present general system of 
management and mismanagement, but defy anyone to prove that 
•either the straw skep, or the brimstone pit with all its horrors, 
tends to decrease the yield of honey. Mismanagement in many 
ways does this, and when failure takes place, as it does oftener than 
•otherwise, the Editor again sagely remarks, “ Your own fault,” 
But cannot point the way to success. Let us take a serious view 
•of two of the latest advices—namely on 
UNCOVERING SUPERS AND CONTRACTING HIVES. 
To uncover a super so as to lower the temperature of the hive 
at any time unsettles the bees and lessens their industry. Their 
•work is instead of comb-building going on during the night time, 
to attend to keeping the brood warm and to daub the super 
•over with propolis, and to have every chink filled with it, the re¬ 
sult being an almost cessation of honey gathering because of the 
want of combs, which are generally made during the night, but 
with cooled supers can only be made during the day, while those 
that are so made are much discoloured by the extra crowding of 
•bees necessary under the circumstances. Stupid as the above 
advice is, what are we to think of contracting a hive of ten 
frames to that of six ? a size only about one-half a hive should be 
But what is to be done with the four frames removed teeming as 
it should with brood we are not told. That will probably be a 
mystery to the adviser himself. I trust no bee-keeper will ever 
•follow that foolish advice, but rather increase the size of the body 
of the hive at this important time as well as keep supers always 
well covered, so that a uniform temperature is always maintained. 
We have had hives when provided with empty comb below 
gather 20 lbs. in weight daily. Had such hives been contracted 
instead of expanded they would not have gathered 5 lbs. daily, and 
yet this is the advice given by the wise men of the day to their un¬ 
fortunate and misguided brethren who, if able to help their bees to 
gather honey, would also be in a fair way to make money. On 
these subjects I have often touched, and thrown down the gauntlet 
but none has accepted the challenge of—A Lanarkshire Bee¬ 
keeper. 
BEES IN THE WRONG PLACE. 
I AM writing to ask you your opinion about some bees that have 
swarmed or rather made their home under the floor of my bedroom. It 
happened in this way. Twelve months ago last June a small swarm was 
seen to enter the air grating between my bedroom floor and the kitchen 
■ceiling (which is under the floor). They seem to have gone in about 
.2 feet between the two joists. I did not attempt to get them out last 
year, but this year they have so increased that they become a nuisance, 
-and what is more, being close to my front door, my children are not safe 
to go in and out. This last few days thousands of bees have been in and 
out. I believe they had honey a short time ago, but my impression is 
that they are being robbed by others, as some of them do not seem to 
know their way in, and they always seem so spiteful. What I want to 
•do is to destroy the bees entirely, but how to do it am at a loss to know. 
I shall have to cut out the grating no doubt, as the bars are only wide 
•enough apart to admit a bee. Any information respecting how to get 
rid of them will be thankfully received. We have plenty of bee-keepers 
.about here, but none of them seem to know how to get the bees out, or 
what to advise me to do. If I pasted something over the grating and 
kept them in, how long would they live in that state, or would they die 
and cause a smell ?— H. Coster. 
[In the above case the first thing to do is to ascertain the exact 
locality of the bees. This can be done by pushing an iron rod through 
the grating until it comes into contact with the combs, or by listening 
where the sound of the bees comes from, either by laying the ear to the 
floor or on a stick resting on it. After the right spot is ascertained, 
Rave a bee-keeper in attendance, and a tradesman will with a gimlet 
and keyhole saw cut the flooring on each side beyond the combs, then 
by lifting it carefully the same boards can be laid again, or if desirable 
■cut close to the joists where the combs are (as they wiil not be in more 
than one space), then they and the bees can be lifted out easily and 
transferred to a frame hive. The floor will be little the worse by this 
manipulation if the work is done properly. 
If the floor cannot be interfered with the bees can be brimstoned, 
and the safest way to do this in case of fire is to close up the grating 
except one aperture, blow in the brimstone smoke with bellows until 
the work of destruction is completed, or close the entrance entirely and 
bore a hole in the floor near the bees and puff smoke until the bees are 
killed ; the small hole can be plugged up and will-not injure the floor. 
There are chemicals that would destroy the bees if confined, such as 
cyanide of potassium, but this is dangerous. In such a dry place the 
bees would be thoroughly desiccated and no smell would arise from 
them, but a closer grating would be required to put in the wall, or the 
combs, unless removed, would attract, other bees, and the trouble might 
continue for years to come. 
Very likely the surmise about robbing is correct, and your letter un¬ 
consciously gives valuable advice. The spitefulness of bees is greatly 
increased when they find honey or sugar other than from flowers, and 
the nonsensical system of stimulative and outdoor feeding has the same 
effect. Bees in search of such sweets are very vicious, and sting readily 
a long way from their apiary. By closing the grating entirely the bees 
would undoubtedly die after some weeks or months, but that would be 
a cruel method of killing them.] 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Small & Co., 22, Lime Street, London.— Catalogue of Dutch and 
other Flower Hoots. 
W. Drummond & Sons, 58, Dawson Street, Dublin .—Autumn Cata¬ 
logue of Dutch Flower Roots. 
Charles Turner, Royal Nurseries, Slough.— Catalogue of Bulbs, 
Carnations, Sfc. 
Harrison & Sons, Leicester.— List of Spring Flowering Bulbs and 
Roots. 
%* 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 un¬ 
avoidably. 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 communica¬ 
tions. 
Rose In Greenhouse (Subscriber'). —You ought to have mentioned 
the name of the Rose that you erred in pruning. Perhaps the best thing 
to do now is to nip off the soft points of the shoots and let the other 
parts have all the sun and air you can to facilitate their maturation. 
Small Worms in Soil (<7. 0. S .).— Letters arriving on Wednes¬ 
day morning cannot be fully answered in the current issue. Give clear 
lime water, it will not injure the plants, and may be otherwise of 
service. 
Dahlia British Emperor ( IF. R. Pierce'). —The blooms were quite 
flattened in transit, but appear full and richly coloured. You should 
have sent specimens to the National Dahlia Show, or one of the meetings 
of the Royal Horticultural Society. The next will be held on the 25th 
inst. The Secretary’s address is 111, Victoria Street, Westminster. 
Twigs Palling- from Yew Trees (./. A.). —The numbers of small 
fruiting twigs that appear to have fallen from the trees have perhaps 
been nipped off by squirrels, which are very mischievous at times. If 
there are no squirrels we are unable to account for the severance of so 
many healthy twigs, and the cause must be sought for on the spot. 
Tulips for Sale ( Weybridge ).—We do not know the name of the 
sweet-scented yellow single Tulip to which you refer. The sweetest 
Tulip we remember is the Yellow Rose, but the flowers are double. 
The Due Van Thol Tulips are the earliest, and thousands of them are 
sold in London about Christmas time. Others for sale may safely be 
chosen from catalogues according to the colours required and prices, the 
cheaper sorts answering as well as the more costly, the white Potte- 
bakker, Chrysolora, Vermilion Brillant, with the red and yellow 
Keyzers Kroon are much grown, as are many others. 
Peach leaves Scorched (<7. T. F.). —The Peach leaves appear 
spotted through the sun acting powerfully upon them whilst wet. 
Keeping the house close during the prolonged wet and dull weather 
would tend to make the leaf tissues thin, and on bright weather succeed¬ 
ing dull they would be unable to endure the sun, nor can such leaves 
perform their office of elaboration and assimilation. The older leaves 
