234 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 10, 1891. 
bat why was this ? To me it is a mystery. But doubtless the 
knowledge of coming untoward weather possessed by the bees 
had something to do with it, and the simultaneous attack at 
two separate places makes it the more remarkable. 
Stocks for 1892. 
No time should be lost in having stocks made up for the 
ensuing year, keeping none but tested young queens and rejecting 
those of a puny appearance. Of course the judicious bee-keeper 
will have a few surplus ones to make a choice from, and it will be 
wise to preserve several in case any blanks occur at a time when 
queens cannot be had. Not unfrequently in olden times we could 
depend upon hives having extra prolific young queens, although 
the hive in autumn was not half full of combs, but since we have 
had a succession of untoward springs such stocks cannot be 
d epended upon. 
Te expect success, hives should be filled with worker comb in 
the autumn to as near as is consistent with a due proportion of 
drone comb, but not more. Hives containing nuclei can be readily 
filled with the pollen-laden and partially filled combs of condemned 
hives. Such hives constitute the very best stocks for another year, 
and will not fail to give the bee-keeper entire satisfaction. 
Punic Queens. 
I have a good opportunity of isolating queens for pure fertili¬ 
sation. If spared till another year I shall probably make the 
experiment, but fear I shall be unable to rear them in sufficient 
numbers to be a paying concern. Had I been stronger it might 
have been otherwise, but I must content myself with bees as a 
recreation, not as a trade. 
Correspondence. 
Already I am in arrears with a number of queries and some 
interesting statements. The former will be answered and the 
latter made use of when writing facilities are greater than among 
the Heather.—A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
Driven Bees and How to Treat Them. 
We will suppose the bees are driven as directed in my last, and 
that the skep containing them is on the original stand, that a frame 
hive is at hand properly prepared, and all the colonies at present 
to be in skeps, and that no frames having combs in them are 
available. 
How to Fix Foundation in the Frames. 
Take full sheets of foundations—that is to say, of a size when 
fixed in the frames that will hang about half an inch from the 
bottom bar, and be within an eighth of an inch of either side of 
the frame. If the frame has a saw-cut in the top bar the foun¬ 
dation can be easily fixed in the manner described in my little 
book as follows “ Take a piece of inch board, 17 inches long, 
and 3 inches wide ; drive two 1^ inch French nails through it in 
the centre longitudinally 2 inches apart, so that they project a 
quarter of an inch on the under side. Turn the board over, and 
screw or nail it to a bench or table parallel to its edges, and it is 
ready for use. Put the strips or sheets of foundation on the table 
beyond the board, the frames on your left hand with the top bars 
towards you, and the hive into which the frames are to be put on 
the floor to your right. Take a frame in your left hand and place 
the saw-cut in it over the nails ; take up the foundation with the 
fingers and thumbs of both hands, rest the edge of foundation in 
the saw-cut, and pass the thumbs round the sides of the frame, 
holding the foundation between the fingers and thumbs ; then give 
the frame a slight turn, pressing it against the nails to open the 
saw-cut wider, and insert the foundation, pushing it well into the 
saw-cut, when on releasing the frame it will be securely fixed. 
Lift the frame off the nails, carefully turn it over, and hang it 
in the hive as it is to remain.” The majority of frames are now 
made with a saw-cut, and the above is the most convenient way 
of fixing foundation in a satisfactory manner. 
Metal Ends for Keeping Distance. 
The frames should be furnished with some means of keeping 
them in the position required, and metal ends are now generally 
used for that purpose, preferably those known as the W. B. G. 
ends, because with these we are able, when using full sheets of 
foundation, to space the frames 1J from centre to centre until 
the combs are built out, when they can without difficulty be 
altered to the distance the bees build in the natural way in a skep. 
The object of placing the frames closer is to prevent the newly 
built-out comb from breaking down.— John M. Hooker. 
PRICES OF PUNIC QUEENS. 
May I ask our friend from Hallamshire how he could afford to sell, 
or rather to advertise, Punic queens at 2s. 6d. in the B. B. Journal 
of last year (May 15th to July 24th), and also in the Record , while 
he now writes in your Journal that lie asks £5 5s. for a queen, and of 
course, he “ considers them cheap at the price?” I also notice that he 
wishes to prevent people writing to him for a queen on the expectation 
of getting one for 5s. I did not know until I saw this week’s Journal 
that “ A. H. B. K.” and the advertiser mentioned above were one and 
the same; but although he certainly praises the Punics very much, I for 
one am not sufficiently verdant to part with £5 5s. until I hear more 
about the Punics from our friend from Lanarkshire and others who are 
not interested in their sale.— Spread Eagle. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Dobbie & Co., Rothesay.— Autumn Catalogue. 
Charles Sharpe & Co., Sleaford.— Spring Flowering Roots. 
Barr & Son, King Street, Covent Garden.— Catalogues of Daffodils 
and Bulls. 
J. Jefferies & Sons, Cirencester.— Catalogue of Bulls. 
Robert Sydenham, Tenby Street, Birmingham.— Unique Bull List, 
and How I Came to Grow Bulls. 
H. Cannell & Sons, Swanley, Kent.— Booh of Reference in Horticul¬ 
ture. 
Charles R. Shilling, Hartley Wintney, Winchfield, Hants.— Cata¬ 
logue of Trees and Shruls. 
James Veitch & Sons.— Catalogue of Plants. 
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 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 communications. 
Phyllocactus (A. A. J.). —The plants flower at different times, 
but often in the spring or summer, and are of great decorative value. 
You will not, however, find them of much use for cutting purposes, as 
the flowers do not last long. 
Cordon Pears ( W. Morris'). —There are no finer Pears than those 
grown as cordons against walls where the soil is of the best character 
and the management of the trees correct. Our remarks apply to Pears 
grown in the open air, not under glass. 
Tomatoes (C. B. G.). —You should have written sooner. Replies 
to Wednesday’s letters have to be held over for another week, or be very 
brief. Do not rrse the mixture on the fruits if you can help it. We 
have not heard of injury, but should prefer to wash dressed fruits before 
using them. 
Vltls heterophylla (York). —This variegated Vine requires all 
the sun it can receive, and not enriched soil. A shaded position and 
liquid manure would have the effect you describe. This Vine is 
employed as a groundwork in bedding, and colours well in . the open 
ground. The growths are cut close back in winter, as if cutting down 
Pelargoniums. 
