392 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ 3Ii.y in, 1888. 
Old Tree, and Queen of Violets are fairly hardy and floriferous. The 
former section have nearly ceased dowering, leaf growth taking the place 
of flowers. These may now be lifted, divided, and replanted in rich 
3(Ximy soil. If given an open position the pieces may be dibbled out 
firmly 9 inches apart, a distance of 12 inches dividing the rows. Nothing 
is gained by crowding them, and if they are watered in very hot dry 
weather or in any way mulched with manure, short grass, or other 
suitable material, they ought to grow sturdily and flower well for the 
"next three seasons. The doubles to be similarly treated after they have 
•ceased to flower. Many err in planting Violets, especially the singles, 
in shady or cool spots. It is the sturdy plants grown in full sunshine 
that are the hardiest and give the most flowers. 
Laicm .-—A good sweeping or bush-harrowing followed by a heavy 
rolling is very heneficial to these. The former distributes the worm- 
casts and dislodges moss, and the rolling fixes many of the grasses that 
annually root afresh. Where the turf is thin or poor it may be greatly 
improved by a liberal use of soot, or a thin sprinkling of bone manure 
or guano may well be given, the rains washing these in. It is not j'et 
too late to sow a mixture of lawn grass seeds as sold by most seedsmen, 
tHis being a good method of improving thin turf. Stir the surface with 
a rake prior to sowing, cover with a little fine soil, roll frequently after 
“the young plants appear, and mow With a scythe two or three times 
ibejfore the machine is put on. Grass is now growing rapidly, and unless 
the machine is used early it will be first necessary to go over it with a 
•scythe. 
m BEE-KIiEPER. 
COMB OR EXTRACTED HONEY? 
The sale of sections seems to be gradually growing less. Comb 
fioney of the best quality will fetch a fair price, but anything of 
an inferior character is hardly saleable at all. There are many 
reasons to account for the public taste, which seems to prefer the 
extracted honey to that which still remains sealed by the bees 
themselves in combs of spotless purity. The retail dealer has 
never regarded section honey with a very kindly eye, and we need 
hardly wonder that the less easily damaged bottle honey is prefer¬ 
able in bis eyes to the more beautiful and very easily damaged 
honey in the comb. It is not every man of business who deals in 
honey w'ho can find fit and safe storage for sections ; and yet, 
tmless he has a large demand, it very commonly happens that the 
goods will be damaged by exposure to sun, light, damp, or draught- 
They may be injured by the slightest fall, and dust will effectually 
tell against their ready sale. The bee-keeper, too, has some diffi¬ 
culty to contend with in the production of the peerless white comb 
which w^e sometimes see exposed for sale in window or case. He 
has to take special care when desirous of obtaining sections of 
good saleable quality, not only to keep the wood clean and white, 
but to prevent the possibility of the hard midrib, w'hich is not 
seldom found in the produce of apiaries where no special care is 
taken to use only the very purest foundation of the most perfect 
thinness and make. A few days’ want of care in neglecting to 
remove the finished combs will, in manj' instances, damage the 
product beyond possibility of remedy, wffiile at the end of the 
season—and the end may come abruptly and without much warn¬ 
ing—not a few unfinished sections remain to tantalise the bee¬ 
keeper when he thinks what might have been had the honey flow 
continued but a few days longer. 
The production of comb honey in sections has, no doubt, in¬ 
creased to a wondrous extent during the last few years, but we do 
not think that the increase in the production of honey in the comb 
has been in anything approaching to equal proportions with that of 
run or extracted honey. Hei'e, again, the reasons are, no doubt. 
manifold. The first that strikes us is that there are few bee¬ 
keepers who are able to produce with certainty sections of first- 
dass quality—well sealed, well filled, clean and spotless. Others, 
again, knowing the difficulties they have to contend with, prefer to 
produce the more homely and more easily saleable article, even if 
they realise a 1 ss price for the produce when the time for selling it 
arrives. If the market for section honey once becomes really dull 
by reason of the supply exceeding the demand, or as certain bee¬ 
keepers would say, by reason of the supply not being distributed 
among tbe population, then extracted honey will certainly be the 
more paying article. 
These remarks are, of course, only preliminary to the deductions 
which we desire to draw from these facts ; for facts they appear to 
be so far as we can judge. If a bee-keeper can secure a market 
beforehand for sections of good quality, or even if he can see his 
way to disposing of them, he may, unless he has the misfortune to 
over-estimate his market, with confidence turn his attention to the 
production of comb honey, but unless he has a considerable expe¬ 
rience in doing so we certainly advise him to proceed with caution. 
Success will beget success. Failure may succeed success, and if it 
does the bee-keeper must then reconsider his position. Sections 
are so much more perishable in their nature, and so comparatively 
difficult to produce, that a practical bee-keeper will only attempt to 
produce them when the relative price of comb and extracted honey 
warrant him in the supposition that there is “ something in it.” 
With extracted honey at 6d., and comb at 8d., we’should trust in 
the main to the latter, but if there was any real and seemingly 
lasting change in the relative prices obtained for the two articles, 
it would at once be our duty to turn our attention to the lower 
priced yet more easily obtained product. It may be we are wrong 
in thus sounding a note of -tt'aming ; it may be that in certain 
localities the demand for sections is on the increase. We shall 
rejoice to hear that this is so, for honey in the comb has a far 
greater attraction for us than the more commonplace yet excellent 
extracted or run honey. 
Whichever kind w’e desire to obtain, the method is the same as 
that which “A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper” and others have fre¬ 
quently pointed out in long past years when this Journal—the 
mother of principles in bee-keeping—held the field as a journal of 
advanced views in bee-keeping and kindred topics. I may be 
allowed here to offer an apology to “ A Hallamshire Bee-keeper ” 
for my apparent movement from a position which I took up a few 
months ago when laying down that, howev'er honourable it was for 
a man to use his energies for the benefit of others, it was of no 
practical moment to the bee-keepers of to-day who was the origi¬ 
nator of a given appliance, principle, or method, provided that they 
have the advantage of it. In writing on the introduction of queens 
quite recently a quotation was made from a work by Mr. S. Sim- 
mins of Rottingdean, not with the intention of awarding to that 
gentleman the palm of inventing the method, but simply because 
the language was terse and clear. It was careless, and has, no 
doubt, led to some little misconception ; but the mistake was quite 
unintentional, as it is certainly not my desire to say that any in¬ 
dividual was the first to discover the principle, since I have not 
sufficient time at my disposal to investigate a subject of such 
delicacy and importance to the originator of the principle, whoever 
he may be, and to his friends. 
The discussion on queen introduction, although it has certainly 
been against the method described in Mr. Simmins’ own words, has 
been both interesting and profitable, and ’W'hen the fitting time 
arrives I shall not fail to make further experiments with a view to 
clearing up, for my own satisfaction, certain points which have 
been urged by those who are well able to speak upon the subject, 
and whose words carry great authority in any discussion on the 
best methods of introducing queens. If I find myself in the 
wrong I shall not hesitate to confess my error, and to thank those 
who have not only enabled me to see my mistake, but have en¬ 
deavoured to set my feet on a pleasant road leading to ceitain 
success.— Felix. 
THE HALLAMSHIRE LAW. 
In the issue for April 19th our friend, “ A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper, ’ 
s'-ill asserts my law is not new. He was kind enough to write me 
privately to the same effect, and said Jlr. J. Lowe’s articles appeared in 
the Journal between 18(32 and 1865. I at once began to search the 
Cottage Gardener and Journal of Horticulture from 1869 to 1870 
inclusive without finding any trace of it. I did find, however, several 
advocating giving the bees sufficient time to miss their old queen before 
