August 27, 1385. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
193 
.greatly ts reduce the temperature of the house. The removal of the 
lights for a time will arrest premature bud-development, and the exposure 
to dew and autumnal rains will benefit the foliage, whilst the roots will 
receive a more uniform moisture than is ever atta'ned by artificial water¬ 
ing. When the leaves fall the final pruning should be done, but all weak 
and useless wood having been cut out immediately after the fruit was 
gathered the autumnal pruning will he of a very trifling character. 
Fecond House .—The trees having been cleared of the fruit quite a 
month ago, as well as any weak and useless growths, they will now have 
the wood quite firm and the buds prominent. Ventilate freely both top 
and front, and with moveable roof-lights, which there ought to be in all 
fruit houses subjected to[early forcing. These should be removed by the 
early part of September or during the first fortnight of that month, as 
exposure to night dews and autumnal rains is of great benefit to the trees. 
The trees will need an occasional syringing to keep the foliage clean and 
healthy, and there must not be any lack of moisture at the roots. In the 
case of vigorous trees it will be well to keep the wood rather thin, so as to 
secure its thorough ripening by the free admission of light and air. 
Third House .—Trees that are forced so as to ripen their fruit from the 
middle of July onwards will now be cleared of the fruit,'and when this 
takes place all useless wood should be cut out, and the growths if at all 
crowded thinned, leaving no more wood than will be required for next 
year’s fruiting or for affording the needful extension of the trees. 
Thoroughly cleanse the trees of dust and insects by means of the garden 
engine, and if necessary apply an insecticide to keep red spider and scale 
in check if not to eradicate these pests, it being important that the foliage 
be kept clean and healthy to the last. If the trees are young and vigorous 
and the wool not ripening kindly close with sun heat early in the after¬ 
noon, running up to 85°, and towards evening commence ventilating for 
the night. 
Watering Peach Trees in Houses .—An impression prevails that dryness 
at the roots hastens the ripening of the wood, but this seriously injures 
the trees ; indeed, many fine trees have teen irreparably damaged by 
withholding water, and more buds fall from this cause than any other. 
When the borders are properly made and drained there is scarcely any fear 
of over-watering, and in such, or indeed any, the soil should never be 
allowed to become dry, and the mulching should not be taken off until the 
time comes for the annual surface dressing of fresh compost. When the 
borders are badly drained the roots strike downward in search of moisture, 
and make late growths—a quantity of breastwood and soft growth—when 
they should be resting. When trees are in the latter condition careful 
lifting and relaying the roots in new soil resting on good drainage is the 
best and most profitable expedient. The proper time to operate on the 
roots is when the foliage shows signs of ripening, but before it falls from 
the trees. 
Late Houses .—The fruit in these is more advanced for ripening, and 
will need free ventilation night and day, but syringing the trees should 
cease, though if the days are bright a moderate air moisture will be neces¬ 
sary for the benefit of the foliage. The borders should not be allowed to 
become dry. The growth of the latest varieties, such as Walburton 
Admirable, Princess of Wales, Salwey, Arc., will still be swelling, and if 
the present dry weather continue the trees will derive considerable bene¬ 
fit from the continued supplies of liquid manure and mulching. The 
wood in all late houses should be kept rather thin, so as to secure the 
solidification of the growths, and if the wood is not likely to ripen kindly 
gentle fire heat with a free circulation of air will be of great benefit and 
tend to improve the quality of the fruit as well as ripening the wood. 
Midseason varieties, however, will under the influence of a favourable 
autumn ripen the wood without fire heat. 
Melons. —The fine weather has been very favourable to Melons grow¬ 
ing in unheated pits and frames, in which water henceforward should be 
used very sparingly ; but should the plants be likely to require water 
give it before midday, or sufficiently early to allow the foliage to be¬ 
come dry before night, otherwise mildew will be likely to be troublesome, 
and canker will probably appear, for which a sharp look-out must be kept, 
and quicklime rubbed well into the affected parts upon its first appearance. 
Houses in which the fruit is ripening will need a free circulation of air, 
and if the weather prove cold and wet gentle fire heat will be necessary. 
Late plants will require attention in stopping, thinning, and tying the 
shoots, keeping them fairly thin to admit of light. Damping and watering 
must be regulated according to the weather and the condition of 
the plants. Fire heat will be necessary to prevent the temperature falling 
below 70° at night, and to keep it between that and 75° in the daytime. 
Expose the fruit as much as possible to the sun’s rays. 
UNITING OR RETURNING SWARMS. 
The old-fashioned bee-keeper seems to have an instinctive 
dread of preventing an inordinate increase of his bees, even 
if he learns—as he often does, from the larger amount of 
honey obtained in the apiaries of his more advanced neigh¬ 
bours—that a far greater weight of honey can he accumulated 
by stocks that are allowed to follow their natural instinct by 
swarming once, hut are prevented from further weakening 
themselves. If the latter is permitted the bee-master cannot 
gain from the short honey glut of most counties so great a 
weight of honey as he would have been enabled to do if, con¬ 
tent with a moderate increase only, he had returned or united 
to other hives his casts or second swarms. This would pre¬ 
vent the mother hive being reduced so seriously in strength 
by sending out a number of starveling swarms, which are of 
themselves unable to prepare a home against the coming 
winter season. They might, however, if two or more were 
united, or if each swarm after the first was returned to the 
mother hive, make the stock not only to gather a plenteous 
store, hut to give a moderate surplus to the bee-keeper, and 
to remain a strong healthy colony, fit to brave the winter. 
Weak stocks in autumn are also constantly liable to the 
hosts of pilferers ever ready to rob a weakling hive of its un¬ 
protected stores. 
There is no manipulation so simple as that of uniting 
swarms and stocks; but a very few minutes are needed to 
effect the union so beneficial to both the bees and their 
master. I remember Dr. Bevan gives three usual methods 
by which union has been attempted, and he himself adds a 
fourth. These are—“ Fuming them, immersing them in 
water, and aspersing them with sugared or honeyed ale,” and 
another by operating upon their fears.” Imagine the poor 
bees immersed in water to effect a union, or put to sleep by 
nauseous fumes, or sprinkled with sugared ale! Possibly 
each method was successful, hut the one which to me appears 
by far the simplest is perhaps related to the third and fourth 
methods of the good doctor. It matters little whether two 
stocks or two swarms, or a stock and a swarm, are to he 
operated on ; it is equally successful in any case, under any 
circumstances, and as an additional recommendation to those 
who love simplicity it is quite unnecessary to seek an inter¬ 
view with her majesty the queen mother of the hive. 
Suppose, then, a swarm has issued and been hived in 
straw skep, it should be placed as near as possible to the 
stock or swarm to which it is proposed to unite it, and there 
left till the evening. The only requisites to have at hand 
ready for the dusk are a cloth and a smoker and a little syrup 
scented with a few drops of peppermint with which to sprinkle 
the bees in order that the peculiar scent may be deadened, 
they being the more kindly and certainly received by the 
occupants of their future home. At dusk, then, spread the 
cloth before the hive with which it is desired to effect the 
union ; not that there is any virtue in the cloth itself, but it 
prevents the bees from being entangled in the grass or any 
other refuse or herbage near the hive. Let some sticks be 
placed upon the cloth to prop the hive placed upon them up 
some 2 inches from the ground. After sending into the 
stock hive a few puffs of smoke and leaving the bees time to 
fill themselves, take up the hive containing the swarm, and 
with a “ violent jerk” throw down all the bees upon the 
cloth ; sprinkle them quickly with the scented syrup, and 
place over them the other stock, covering the whole to protect 
them from wet or wind. Leave them till early morning, 
when the now strengthened stock should be placed once more 
upon its old stand, in order that the bees flying early to the 
fields may not, missing their hive, fly away and die at the 
entrances to other hives. The above simple plan, then, care¬ 
fully carried out, never fails to bring about the desired union 
without the loss of time, the loss of bees, or the trouble 
entailed by some of the more elaborate plans for effecting the 
same purpose, in which catching the queen and killing her 
generally holds a foremost position. 
Let each one try for himself and see how simply the 
union may be effected, and he will in future never hesitate 
to unite whenever he thinks such union likely to benefit his 
bees. One word of warning, however, should be given, and 
that is, that if a second swarm be joined to a first it some¬ 
times happens that the older queen succumbs to the attack 
of her more nimble rival; but as in such case the eggs only 
of a very few days are lost, and a young active queen takes 
