392 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 29, 1886. 
fitted with slides of some sort. Of these there are three kinds—the 
sliding as in the Stewarton, the lateral as in the Lanarkshire, and the 
moveable ones falling in between frames, but not close. When a 
hive is supplied with slides clean supers are certain, manipulation is 
easier, and bees are not so liable to be killed as when a quilt is used 
over frames with the openings between. Besides, the bee-keeper is 
saved much labour and annoyance in gathering, applying, and re¬ 
moving the propolis, always offensive and ample where quilts are so 
used. Frames where the dropping-in slides are used should not have 
broad ends, but the distance staples should be in the ends. There is 
one great advantage tiering hives have over broad and shallow ones— 
viz., the bees keep quieter during winter and do not fly out so 
readily in the treacherous sunshine when snow is on the ground. 
I hope the foregoing notes will give an idea how to make such a 
hive, partly from old Orange boxes, and that bee-keepers will learn that 
the hive so protected with the best of non-conducting material, yet 
allowing a circulation of air all round, is a good one, and I hope to 
show that it is easy to manipulate. 
To be prepared for the manipulation the bee-keeper must have a 
sufficient number of sheets of brown paper. These should be kept 
perfectly flat, and may be fastened somewhere to the door of the case, 
where also a few feathers should be. In the vent pocket have an 
exciseman’s oval-shaped inkbottle to hold carbolic acid, and another 
containing camphorated olive oil, very useful for reducing the pain 
and swelling caused by stings. Some sort of adjustable stage or 
platform having a division or hive similar to those inside, and on to 
which the inner one with bees and combs is to be drawn. If the 
combs are wanted free from bees slip a sheet of carbolicised paper 
between each seam. The bees will retreat to the box beneath, which 
the bee-keeper can dispose of as he has a mind. If the queen is 
wanted comb after comb will have to be examined separately, and 
when not found in the one will be in another. Sometimes the bees 
take a turn and seal the outside upper combs, which stops the quick 
and satisfactory filling of supers, as bees do not care to walk over 
sealed comb. When this occurs draw out the upper division and 
either remove the sealed combs or break the seals, then the bees will 
fill the supers. 
As the supers rest more on the division than these do on one 
another, it will be advisable to wedge the supers up a little from the 
back, where all the manipulation is performed. This is easily done 
with a long screwdriver and two wedges. The hive or divisions, if 
exactly made, may be of the roughest description. If any think of 
having such a hive I doubt not but improvements will be suggested, 
and many more advantages will be seen than I have enumerated, but 
there is no other hive made that combines usefulness, control in 
manipulation, comfort, elegance, durability, yet lightness, and so 
well adapted for both bee-keepers and bees, as the “ best hive in 
creation.”—A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
*** 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 correspon¬ 
dents, as doing so subjects them to unjustifiable trouble and 
expense. 
Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions relat¬ 
ing to Gardening and those on Bee subjects, and should never 
send more than two or three questions at once. All articles in¬ 
tended 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. 
Pansy ( G. H. B .).—The flower did not arrive in a sufficiently fresh state 
for its merits to be satisfactorily determined; but it appears to be a very 
good variety. 
Lecture on Fruit Trees ( Garddwr ).—Mr. Baillie’s lecture was published 
in this Journal, and we are not aware that it has appeared in any other 
form. As you are a reader of the Journal you will possess the lecture if you 
have preserved the numbers, and if you have not, we think the publisher 
can supply them. 
Bulbs Decaying (.7. II. S .).—The bulbs appear to be attacked with a 
small mite that is very destructive to Eucharis bulbs. You had better 
burn the worst examples and wash the remainder in a solution of Gishurst 
compound before potting or planting them. They should be well sur- 
ounded with sand or sharp ashes. 
Pears Cracking (H. S. E.). —The cracking is due to the light sandy or 
gravelly soil, and the variety, which seems to be some late sort which we 
cannot name, is not likely ever to succeed. Graft the tree with such aB 
Doyenne du Comice, Yan Mons Leon Leclerc, or Beurre Superfin. 
Erythrinas and Tigridias {Somerset). —The height referred is that of the 
tree in the Brazilian forests. All the varieties you name grow about the 
same height when planted close to a south wall in this country. The stems 
are cut down in winter, and if ashes are placed over the roots fresh growths 
appear in spring and flower when they attain a height of 3 to 5 feet accord¬ 
ing to the nature of the soil. The growths are usually trained to walls, bnt 
in sheltered places in some of the London parks the plants grow and flower 
in open beds, the plants in that case being wintered in pots. If your plants 
are established near a warm wall to which you wish to train the growths we 
should not disturb the roots, but afford protection in the manner indicated. 
If your garden is much exposed there is no certainty of these plants flower¬ 
ing in the open, and you had better try the species you have in that way 
before purchasing the others. For producing a good mass Tigridia bulbs 
should be planted not less than 6 inches apart. They should be inserted 
during ajfine day in spring, when the soil is in free good working condition. 
Liliums {A Subscriber). —You had better turn out the bulbs, removing 
most of the old soil from them with any dead roots above or below the 
bulbs, but not disturbing the large fleshy roots that you ought to find, and 
place them at once in fresh soil. They grow well in equal parts of turfy 
loam, peat, and leaf mould, adding sand and crushed charcoal to render the 
whole porous. Place sand round the bulbs, and do not fill the pots with 
soil, but leave space of an inch or two for top-dressings. If the soil is 
pleasantly moist, as it should be, not decidedly wet, nor so dry that it 
escapes between your fingers when a handful is grasped, no water will be 
needed, provided the pots are plunged in damp cocoa-nut fibre refuse or 
ashes and covered with the same 3 or 4 inches deep. A cold frame is a 
good position for them during the winter and the earlier stages of growth 
in the spring. 
Size of Chrysanthemums {A. B.). —Your bloom of Queen of England, 
24 inches in circumference, is, if solid, above the average size of flowers of 
this variety staged at the London shows, and Lord Alcester, 18 inches in 
circumference, is not often seen larger when cupped and arranged in the 
stands. Good judges have regard to the depth and solidity of blooms, and 
do not look with favour on what they term “ blown out ’’examples. We do 
not for a moment suggest that yours are of this character, and if they are 
deep, firm, and fresh, they are large enough for staging anywhere. 
Angle for Cordon Trees—Gishurst Compound {F. J .). —For getting the 
“ best value out of the spice ” the trees should be trained at an angle of 
45°, but not when first planted. They may be vertical, or only slightly 
depressed the first year for encouraging growth, then gradually brought 
down to the angle indicated. Any that do not grow fieely may be kept 
upright, others that grow robustly may be depressed, and in this way your 
wall may be uniformly covered in the course of a few years. A strong 
lather of Gishurst compound is excellent for brushing into the crevices of 
fruit tree branches in winter for the destruction of insects. We have never 
said it will cure canker, but is at least worth trying, and if it fails it is 
certain softsoap will not succeed in accomplishing that desideratum. 
Moss Roses—Primulas (W. A.). —You have not made the condition of 
the Roses clear to us. There are numbers 3 feet high, yet the growth they 
make annually is weak and poor, while others of the same height have 
luxuriant shoots. The length and strength of the wood made in the 
summer is what must be known before anyone can properly tell you how to 
prune and treat them. If the pots of your Primulas are filled w ith roots 
give them clear soot water of the colour of pale ale about twice a week, and 
let them have a light position in a house having a temperature ranging from 
45° to 55°. We are not aware that you can safely push them in any other 
manner, unless you like to try a little sulphate of ammonia, about a quarter 
of an ounce being dissolved in a gallon of water. 
Drying Pampas Grass {South Norwood). —The best and only plan that 
we know is to cut the plumes with a good length of stalk when quite dry, 
and before the plumes are quite clear of the sheaths, placing them in a 
greenhouse or other place where they will be dry, in a similar position as 
grown, or upright. In ten days to a fortnight they should have the leaves or 
grass removed and given a gentle shake; they will then open out, and have 
the beautiful feathery appearance for which they are so much admired. 
Ours dried in this way retain their beauty for at least twelve months, indeed 
we have some two years old still very attractive. 
Temperature for Ripe Grapes {Merchant). —The temperature for Black 
Hamburghs and Alicante Grapes, now they are ripe and the leaves falling, 
should be kept as equally as possible at 50° by artificial means, with ventila¬ 
tion in the daytime, so as to allow of damp escaping, the pipes being allowed 
to cool before night, and even then a little top air may be given so as to pre¬ 
vent the deposition of moisture on the berries through the night. The tem¬ 
perature at night should not fall below 45°. Do not allow the temperature 
to rise in the morning over 50°,without giving a little air, or moisture will he 
condensed on the berries, and they will not keep well. The Muscat will not 
now colour well, but we should afford a temperature by day of 60° to 65° by 
artificial means, and ventilate freely above that temperature, indeed allow a 
little air with a gentle warmth in the pipes constantly until the leaves turn 
yellow, when the temperature may be lowered to 50° gradually, ventilating 
freely by day in favourable weather. We think the Yines are in good con¬ 
dition, and the promise for another year excellent. You may apply a dress¬ 
ing of quicklime to the border, and point it in with a fork, but not so deeply 
as to injure the roots. Half a bushel per rod (30J square yards) of border 
would in your case be amply sufficient. 
Preserving Labels—Impatiens Sultani ( Trike). —We know of no better 
method of rendering wood labels used in flower pots more endurable than 
that suggested a few years ago by Mr. G. F. Wilson—namely, soaking them 
in hot paraffin. Some that Mr. Wilson had soaked for forty-eight houis 
absorbed 12 per cent, of the paraffin. You probably know that paraffin is 
not petroleum, but a solid substance, and it contains nothing injurious to 
plants ; but if you cannot readily obtain it you may try soaking the labels 
in petroleum, which is a preservative of wood. You may insert cuttings of 
