542 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
r June 28, 1888. 
answer for Calceolarias, Heliotropes, Verbenas, Iresines, and Petunias, 
and these may be cut from old birch brooms and faggot wood, or hair 
pins may be used for the least sturdy growers. Those performing this 
rather delieate work oueht not to step among the plants, but should use 
boards supported with strong inverted flower pots, and from these reaeh 
the centre of the beds. Isolated beds are most eSeetive when rather 
high and full in the centre, and in this case it is advisable to stake up 
any that are not so erect as wished for. 
Thinning and Trannplayiting Annuals .—Many annuals sown in the 
open borders have come up better than usual, and as a consequence there 
is all the greater need for judieious thinning out. Crowded together 
they are certainly very gay for a time, but this is a most fleeting display. 
Preely thinned out the majority will branch strongly and produce finer 
bloom for a mueh longer period. Three Mignonette plants are ample 
an a patch, and Poppies, Balsams, Candytuft, Marigolds, Eschscholtzias, 
Godetias, Cornflowers, Convolvuluses, Chrysanthemums, Larkspurs, 
Nasturtiums, Sweet Peas, Salpiglossis, and various other annuals, all 
ought to be given good room to develope. Very few of them transplant 
readily, but in showery or dull weather the attempt may be made to 
move a few, patches being lifted and replanted with the aid of a 
trowel. When watered and shaded, if need be, those moved may yet 
flower well. 
Pinhs and Carnations .—Cuttings or slips of the former ought now to 
be put in, it being necessary or advisable to propagate a number of 
plants every season. Old plants will last for many years, but those 
newly raised are always the earliest, and produce much the finest 
flowers. In most districts they strike readily in handlights or frames 
plaeed against a north wall, and not unfrequently they may be rooted 
in a similar position without the aid of glass. Where either of these 
plans fail a slight hotbed should be formed for a frame in a cool 
position. In any case a layer of about 4 inches of fine loam, and sand 
freely added, should be placed in the frames or handlights, and where 
neither of the latter are employed it should be used in preference to the 
ordinary soil. Seleet short, well-ripened shoots. Pull these off the old 
stems, and remove all dead scales or leaves, this being all the preparation 
needed. Dibble them in firmly and rather closely, water, and keep 
rather close and shaded during the hottest part of the day till rooted. 
If partially ripened cuttings of border Carnations can be obtained 
these may also be prepared and rooted similarly to the Pinks. These, 
however, may be put in later on, or, better still, layered in July or 
August. Seedlings when of good size ought to be pricked oS thinly in 
boxes of good loamy soil and kept in cool frames for a time. When 
sufficiently strong they may be finally planted out in an open border. 
Seeds to he Sown .—Now is a good time to sow Pansy and bedding 
Viola seed in pans or boxes, plaeing these in a cold frame, or the seed 
may be sown in the open. In the latter case it will be necessary to mix 
plenty of leaf soil with the ordinary mould, damping this prior to sowing 
the seed and lightly covering with fine sandy soil. Choice Primroses 
and Polyanthuses may also be raised in a similar manner, the plants 
obtained giving a few flowers next spring. Brompton Stocks may yet 
be sown, and as a rule the seed will germinate more surely in boxes set 
in a cool frame, the seedlings being eventually put out in an open 
border. Hollyhocks and Aquilegias should also be sown now either in 
the open or in boxes, the seedlings of the former thus obtained being 
wintered in cold frames, and will flower next year : the Aquilegias may 
be wintered in the open, these flowering next June. 
NOTES ON BEES. 
WINTERING BEES—SPRING DWINDLING. 
Numerous plans and devices are recommended by modern 
writers for successfully wintering bees, and abundant advice is 
given as to certain manipulations, as if bee.8 did not know how to 
get along without man interfering with them and their internal 
economy, at times, too, when it would be wisdom to let them alone^ 
as the acts performed during winter and spring are all detrimental. 
It is a wonder after all these manipulations that spring dwindling 
is not more common than it is. What is more absurd than to hear 
people instructing others about the proper time to start the queen 
to lay ? Bees that are nursing and rearing brood during the winter 
months by their activity keep up a greater heat in the hive than 
those having none. With the former, even although the thermo¬ 
meter is some degrees below zero, dead bees will never be found 
inside the hive, as is often the case with the latter, even when the 
temperature is much higher. 
We are never desirous to have queens laying abundantly during 
the winter, but are so to have always a moderate quantity of breed¬ 
ing going on, and that, too, in a natural way and condition. To 
accomplish this a young queen is the first consideration, the hive 
the second, and the stores the third, and the protection from storm 
and internal damp the fourth. I have previously made these 
matters plain, but the external coverings should be the same during 
all times and seasons, no uncovering at any time, and all these 
points must go together. Double-cased hives are losing favour 
with me every year (I never was a lover of them). They are liable 
to damp, vermin, and rot, that single-cased hives are not, while 
their extra size renders them unfit for moving about. I have never 
observed a single writer touch upon this point of bees breeding in 
winter, but as bee-keepers are thinking for themselves now, W'e 
hope they will turn their attention more to Nature than Art, 
and they will reap more advantage. 
THE MANAGEMENT OF SWARMS. 
At pages 521-522 “Felix” gives some sensible advice, but I do 
not agree with him in all he says, so state my reasons for differing 
in my management regarding the shaking of bees from the re¬ 
ceptacle they were at first hived in. The advice given how to 
introduce bees into their permanent frame hive is but another 
proof of its defectiveness. However, he has no doubt given the 
advice faithfully how to put bees into a defective hive, which is far 
better than the advice given by some to introduce the bees from 
above, being the most unnatural plan possible. We might as well 
expect water to run up hill as to expect bees to run down without 
much bother and risk of their taking wing again, as certainly they 
are liable to do. AVheii bees are shaken they do not all remain 
where they fall ; many rise, and sometimes all of them, to settle in 
another or the same place as they did at first, which under any 
circumstance is provoking. 
Some varieties of bees are not so liable to take wing as others 
when being re-hived, but all of them are more or less inclined to do 
so, and either to hive anew, partly or whole fly back to where they 
first alighted or to the old stock. Of course, I mean when the 
manipulation is done shortly after the bees have been secured, as it 
is the only commendable plan. Waiting for some hours the risk 
of the bees taking wing is lessened, with the loss of valuable time. 
We do not always have our swarms when the sun is shining, very 
often it is when a heavy thunder shower is coming on, or it may be 
windy and chilling for the younger bees, and to cause them to take 
a second flight means the loss of many. In previous articles I have 
both shown how to secure a swarm and how to introduce one into 
its permanent hive, where it was impracticable to place them in it 
at first. 
When the bees cluster in a convenient place at first we never 
hesitate to shake the cluster bodily into a hiving box, but it is 
seldom we have the opportunity to do so, as most of our swarms go 
right into the centre of a thicket in the hedge or in some inaces- 
sible place high up upon the dark limb or thick branch of a tree, so 
that we have very often to lift them in handfuls into the hiving 
box, or by the aid of carbolic acid cause the bees to retreat to a 
more convenient spot. By whatever means we secure the bees (we 
have often difficulties with them) we are sure to have them into a 
hiving box if not the permanent hive ; if in the latter there is no 
further bother ; if in the former it is either placed right under the 
permanent hive or slid underneath it in an inverted position, and 
the trap floor allowed to fall, when the bees at once begin to go up 
without the risk of being overtaken in a shower or of their flying 
away again ; a narrow slit on the top of the box admitting a 
carbolised feather hastens the ascent of the bees. 
Our poles, M'hich can be extended to any convenient length, 
are admirably adapted for securing a swarm when located high up 
on a tree where it is difficult to get at it, and cutting the branches 
is not permissible. The hiving box, which is suspended by a cord 
to the top of the poles, and carried over pullies for raising or lower¬ 
ing, ought to be very light. The best and lightest material I can 
suggest is plaited straw bound with wire, ending in a loop on the 
top, whereby it is suspended. Anything heavy causes unsteadiness 
in the poles, rendering the task difficult. A swarm of bees is heavy 
