Jannary 19.183’. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
quently. They Power equally as well, if not bettor, and the flowers arc 
brighter in colour. Those that are top-dressed m.ay have a little manure 
applied to the surface. Plants that have grown too tall may be cut 
down. The heads will root freely if placed in the propagating frame in 
brisk heat. Every portion that has a sound eye upon it will make a 
plant. The old stool should be allowed to break, and frequently half 
a dozen or more shoots will issue from it, and the result is a splendid 
jil.ant by the end of the .season. After it has broken into growth the 
soil may be shaken from its roots and the plant placed in a smaller 
j-)ot. Be careful to warm the soil thoroughly before these plants are re¬ 
potted. 
/f/yw-.-wiff.?.—Both evergreen and deciduous varieties must be well 
pruned, and from the former all unripe ends may be removed, except 
where the extension of the plants are needed. Treat in oth r respects 
the same as .a lvised for Tccom.as. 
Coh<ea xcandauf. —This and its variegated forms are such luxuriant 
growers that unless they are severely pruned annually and occasionally 
during the gi’O 'ing season, they smother all smaller-growing climbers 
that are near them. If well reduced in size they will in a very short 
time furnish the space .allotted them with cle.an healthy foliage, which 
is preferable to leaving a large mass of old foliage upon the plants. As 
a rule, these grow in a very small quantity of soil without being top- 
dressed or fed during the season of growth. 
Plitmbtu/o capenxix. —Whether grown in a pot and trained upon a 
trellis, or pl.anted out .and trained to a pillar in the greenhouse or con¬ 
servatory, they should be well pruned back. If a succession of bloom is 
appreciated place one or two of the plants that have enjoj'ed a good 
season of rest in an intermediate temperature until they break into 
growth. They may afterwards be top-dressed or repotted as the case 
m.ay be. If any old foli.age is left upon the plants be careful that no 
reil spider exists upon them. It will increase rapidly with increased 
heat, and soon devour the young tender foli.age after the plants have 
started into growth. If syringed with the .solution advised for Lapagerias 
it will destroy any insects that m.ay be upon them. 
THE STEWAETON Hmi. 
FOREIGX RACES OF BEES. 
In’ reference to this subject the following letter has been received, the 
reply to which is made the text of this article :— 
“• I am obliged by your last letter, to which I have delayed answering, 
as I thought you would be busy at the moors. As to your kind oSer of 
the Syrian b’cs, I have a lively recollection of your description of their 
behaviour and the way they stung you awhile ago, and would not risk 
such an experience myself on any consideration. I am f.ar from having 
the patience of Job, and suffer much when stung, so I hope you will 
not send me Syrians if they are dangerous and only fit for an expert. 
I trust you understand that I intend and wish to p.ay for wliat I obtain. 
I shall be very glad to take advantage of your offer to feed the bees, and 
perhaps you will kindly inform me whether the hive you propose to send 
is a frame hive, or of what description. Reading your description a few 
weeks back in the Journal of Jforfioidture of the strength your stocks 
.attained when in full working order (requiring four body boxes) set me 
thinking whether the time has not come for a modification of the 
Stewarton pattern hive. Your skill, experience, and thorough knowledge 
of the subject gives your judgment great weight, and I shall be glad if 
you will consider the following points 
“ 1, The foreign r.aces of bees, such as the Syrian, Cyprian, Carniolian, 
&e., .are much more fertile than the blacks, and consequently require 
much larger hives for their successful management. 
“ 2, The Stewarton in its dimensions and form is an old hive, and was 
constructed to meet the requirements of the black bees, there being no 
others kept in Scotland then. 
“ 3, Although the Stewarton is the very best hive for a moderate 
swarm, yet it loses tbat proportion which is one of its great recommenda¬ 
tions when it becomes necessary to use four body boxes and five or six 
supers for one stock, as you have had to do —53 inches high with a base 
of only II inches appears to me to be an error. 
“ I, The octagon is the best form of hive after the circular (which is 
out of the question for wooden hives), but the proportion between base 
and height should be considered, and therefore as the size of the hive 
as a whole requires to be increased the base area must likewise be 
increased. 
“ 5, I would therefore suggest that the Stew.arton pattern hive should 
be increased in diameter to something like the enclosed plan. This 
would give ten bars instead of nine in the body boxes, and eight in the 
supers instead of sever., with only a fraction less th.an 2 inches each. 
It is not a perfect oct.agon,but the corners are cut off so as to allow the 
six centre bars to be full size. The internal superficial area will be 
increased from ItiO square inches as at present to 215 squ.are inches, or 
about 33 per cent., and three body boxes will contain about 3900 cubical 
inches, equal to four of the present size.—F\ J. J.’’ 
[1, “ F. J. J.” is quite correct, all the foreign races of bees mentioned 
are more prolific than the common black bee, and require much larger 
hives, and in m.any instances different treatment. The failure of many 
bee-keepers is owing to their persistency in keeping their bees in toO' 
small hives, which results in want of bees to gather honey, the evil being 
further aggravated by excessive sw.arming and the deposition of queens 
at an improper time, and often where it is most important, th.at 
swarming should not t.ake place. 
2, The Stew.arton hive is practically unlimited in its capacity, 
as any number of divisions may be used suitable to strength of 
stock and fertility of queen, no matter what the breed may be. Since 
the days of “Bee Robin,” who was both bee-keeper and joinciv 
many makers of the Stewarton hive were not bee-keepers, having 
but an indefinite knowledge of bees and bee-keeping, sent out these 
hives incomplete as is in some cases done yet, .and without proper in¬ 
structions, often none at all, hence so many failuris. Then, for some 
ye.ars past, manufacturers not up to the making nor working of these 
hives, found it answered their purpose better to make square ones, re¬ 
commending the latter and condemning the former without the know¬ 
ledge of its merits. 
3, When a Stewarton hive attains to the height of from I to 5 feet its 
weight is a sufficient gu.arantee that it will not topple over unless 
in an extremely severe storm that may occur during the honey season. 
We have never experienced storms at home that capsized hives during 
summer. Sometimes I have stretched guy cords .as a precaution, but 
never saw the use of that. It was different, however, at the moors: 
having to contend against both winds, stray c.attle, and sheep, .and being 
often confined to little sp.ace, I used to place my hives in threes upon 
notched crossed stands, and lashed the hives to these so that they 
stood secure. These stands were m.ade from five pieces of timber .about 
I inches broad, one piece long the other short to suit the size of the 
hives, are notched together forming a right angle, then three shorter 
pieces are notched into the ends, forming a triple stand similar to the 
notched stands sold by dealers as the “ cheapest, best, and simplest 
kind of stand ever invented.” It has been used here by me for upwards 
of thirty years, and I had them in use in my apiary in 1875, when the 
person who cl.aims the idea visited me before he invented the said stand. 
Probably the visit to me helped him in that .as it did on the same 
occasion when comb foundation was condemned by him and his com¬ 
panion as worthless. I relieved them both of that notion. 
It will be observed a stand of that description prevents the hives 
looking all in one direction, but if one is made to look due east, another 
may look south-east, and the third one may look due south. I have 
had my hives in fours, but it was objectionable owing to the impossibility 
of standing behind all the hives when manipulating. The triple standi 
has not that objection, and the hives can be lashed to it and together tO' 
prevent capsizing as e.asily as if it was a quadruple stand. 
4, This seems a reasonable suggestion in theory, but not in practice. 
The incre.ase of one b.ar only adds greatly to the superficial measure, 
thereby detracting from the properties of the original form of the 
Stewarton hive for profitable working. I had a number of such hives 
made, but as they disappointed me I gave them all away. Clumping 
hives in threes as described overcomes the difficulty and danger of 
capsizing. 
5, The great difficulty bee-keepers have to contend against is our 
variable climate, hence also is the difficulty of having hives exactly to 
our mind. The hive as suggested is ex.actly similar, except the angles, 
to those I parted with. In some seasons they eclipsed the original form 
of hive, but were oftener a failure ; they do not winter the bees so 
well, nor are they so well adapted for supering as the narrower and 
more compact form. It takes a long series of years to arrive at a proper 
conclusion what form a hive should be, as well as the mode of manage¬ 
ment. In some seasons a very indifferently managed apiary will give 
large returns, ami when this occurs the bee-.keeper jumps to a conclusion, 
based upon imperfect ideas and opinions, which his injudicious treat¬ 
ment (although once in a time fortunate) was sure to be disappointing 
and unprofitable in the end, arising through a misunderstanding that led 
to success. We do not require to go far to seek truth to support that 
statement. We have only to turn our eyes to much of the bee literature 
for ten or twelve years past; there we find leaders jumping from one 
style of hive and system of management to another, thereby leading 
people into expenses and disappointment. But at last, as the truth is 
forced upon them, another ch.ange is made ; but lo ! what do we find .’ 
Instead of either hive or system of management being new, it is but 
an appropriation of old ideas. The truth of the above has only 
to bo searched for in older literature, and will give the reader a glimpse 
into the unfairness and unjustness of some of our great bee-men of the 
present day.— A Lanaekshiee Bee-keepee.] 
TKADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
VVTlliam Fell & Co., Wentworth and Fellside Nurseries, Hexham.— 
Sprhif/ Seed Guide, ISSS. 
William Bull, 53(1, King’s Road, Chelsea.— A Catalogue of S/derf 
Flower and Vegetahlc Seedx, 1SS8. 
R. II. I’oynter, Castle Green, Taunton.— Annual Seed Lixt, ISSS. 
G. Bunyard & Co., Maidstone.— Catalogue oj Vegetahlc, Garden, and 
Flower Seedx. 
Fisher, Son, & Sibray, 4, Slarket Street, Sheffield.— Catalogue of 
Fitehen Garden and Flower Seedx, ISSS. 
W. IJrummond & Sons, 58, Dawson Street, Dublin.— Catalogue of 
Vegetable and Flower Seedx, ISSS. 
William Baylor Hartland, 24, Patrick Street, Cork.— Year Booh of 
Seedx for the Seaxon ISSS. 
