November 12, 1888. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
435 
plants, if the temperature in that structure is kept from falling below 50° 
at night. Late batches for flowering after Christmas must be regularly 
supplied with water as they need it, for they still possess the whole of 
their foliage. These must not be in a lower night temperature than 60°. 
Dendrobiums .—Many of these have completed their growth, and 
should receive no more water at their roots or moisture in the atmosphere 
than sufficient to keep their pseudo-bulbs fresh and plump. The majority 
of deciduous varieties after the whole of the foliage has been ripened from 
them may be removed to a cool house, where they will have a season of 
rest, which is essential to luxuriant growth. Some, such as D. Devonia- 
num, D. crystallinum, and others, are not benefited by removal to a cold 
house, for they rest perfectly, flower profusely, and grow better another 
year if they are rested in an intermediate temperature ; if starved while 
at rest they are liable to go back instead of making progress tbe following 
year. Many evergreen varieties, such as D. nobile, will also be ready for 
removal to a cool house, but those that have not completed their growth 
must be kept in heat and their pseudo-bulbs ripened as early as possible. 
D. thyrsiflorum, D. densiflorum, I). Farmerii, and others of similar habit 
have completed their growth, and may be removed for a time to an inter¬ 
mediate temperature to further ripen, and finally subjected to cool treat¬ 
ment. They must be well ripened and not placed to rest in too low a 
temperature, or the tips of the leaves turn yellow, and therefore destroy 
the appearance of the plants. When placed under cool treatment it is 
necessary to keep the atmosphere perfectly dry. D. heterocarpum, nobile, 
and Wardianum that have been resting some time in a cool place will be 
showing their flower buds prominently on each side of the pseudo-bulbs ; 
these can soon be brought into flower by introducing them into the stove 
or any other house where a temperature of 60° is maintained ; if not 
required they can still be retarded, or placed in a house to come forward 
less rapidly. 
Cattleyas .—All plants that have completed their growth should be 
removed to the coolest end of the house in which they are growD, 
while those still growing must have the lightest and warmest end. 
These plants will need very little water either at their roots or in the 
atmosphere. Those that have ceased growth will only need sufficient 
water to maintain their pseudo-bulbs and foliage plump. Cattleyas 
often make a good quantity of roots after the pseudc-bulbs appear to 
be full grown and ripe. These must not be prematurely sent to rest 
by withholding water, but it must be applied to them carefully and 
cautiously until root-extension is fully completed. It will be unnecessary 
to damp amongst the pots of these plants from the present time, for 
the atmosphere will be rendered sufficiently moist by the water required 
at the roots of the plants. The night temperature should range from 
55° to GO’’, with a rise by day of 5° or 10°. Ventilate whenever the 
weather is favourable. Under these conditions Cattleyas will rest, with¬ 
out which they will not long remain in perfect health. While in an 
inactive state these plants are very liable to the attacks of thrips, 
which, if not destroyed, will soon seriously injure their foliage. 
Oncidiumt .—The majority of these will be better with the Cattleyas 
from the present time than in a warmer structure. Some are benefited 
by a lower temperature, but the Odontoglossum house is too moist for 
them. If these plants are to grow well and flower profusely they must 
have their pseudo-bulbs well ripened, and then the plants receive a 
complete rest for a good period by keeping them in a cooler house than 
the one in which they have heen grown. They should also be kept dry at 
their roots ; in fact, only give sufficient water to prevent their pseudo¬ 
bulbs shrivelling. 
SKEP COVERINGS. 
This apparently simple matter of coverings for straw 
hives is a cause, when not properly attended to, of much loss 
and no small amount of anxiety to the bee keeper; for during 
the damp wet days and weeks of the winter months, unless 
the coverings are such as to entirely obviate any chance of 
the wet penetrating through and causing a dampness on the 
top of the hive ; or if by reason of there not being sufficient 
overlap or slope the wet runs from the floorboard under the 
sides of the hive, causing damp and mould, a foundation has 
been laid for disease which, unless speedy precautions are 
taken, will destroy the stock. Mr. Payne in his manual — 
which I am sorry to say I am unable to obtain, it being now 
out of print, and my own copy mislaid by a cottager to whom 
I lent it—said, if my memory does not mislead me, that a 
large earthenware pan was the best protection for a hive 
from the weather. 
There appears, however, to me to be a great objection to 
such a cover, in that when rain comes driven by a wind it 
beats beneath any such protection and wets the hive through, 
with the result that during the winter the hive is continually 
damp, and the floorboard also is affected in the same manner. 
Such a state of things would cause me the greatest anxiety, 
and even if no harm ensued it would be a perpetual eyesore 
which would render it an impossibility in any apiary. What, 
then, is the best substitute ? Now on this question so much 
has been written, and such lavish abuse of boxes has been 
poured out, that it is with a feeling of half fear that I ven¬ 
ture to say that for cleanliness, neatness, dryness, ease in 
supering, ekeing, nadiring, and for general adaptability to 
all the operations conducted in an apiary there can be no 
better covering than a well-made box. 
Such a box could be made at a very small cost, and the 
way I set to work is as follows :—From any shopman I pro¬ 
cure a good strong box which generally costs about 6d., and 
is larger than the largest hive ever used here, and deeper by 
6 or 8 inches at least. I then get another-box of good sound 
material at the same price ; with the wood of this second box 
form a roof for the other, making it of such a form as to 
give ample room for filling supers; this top is loose and held 
on the box merely by hooks and eyes. A good coat of thick 
paint once a year completes the whole, which will last for 
years—in fact, with common care such a box will outwear 
most bee-keepers. The cost of labour in construction is not 
much—to a man, that is, who knows how to use his hands, 
and if it seems not to be so easy to form the top from the 
second box a little extra outlay will buy wood sufficient for 
the roof. It may be added to the directions already given 
that the front side of the box is knocked out, and, after an 
entrance has been cut for the bees, the front board as it now 
becomes is fastened on again by means of two brass-headed 
thumbscrews, so as to be easily removeable whenever neces¬ 
sary. One word of warning. Good work is essential. To 
expect a box only half made and put together in a loose 
happy-go-lucky fashion to keep out wet effectually is ridicu¬ 
lous, but, on the contrary, a good properly made box will 
entirely keep out such moisture, and the room at the top and 
the sides will have a beneficial effect in winter by keeping up 
a free circulation of air, and this is a point to which I pay 
particular attention, always leaving spaces under the eaves 
to admit air freely, and yet so contrived as to exclude wet. 
Thus the stagnation of air which propagates and fosters 
damp is superseded by the health-giving changes of air con¬ 
tinually going on. 
Now, what is the result of haviug our skeps under these 
shelters ? The advantage are manifold, of which I may state 
the chief. These are the knowledge that no wet can pene¬ 
trate, and that mice are effectually excluded; the additional 
facility given for the use of any kind of super either sectional 
glass or of any other description ; the advantage gained by 
preventing the sun in winter from warming the hive too 
quickly, and so enticing the bees to leave their comb when 
the outside air is quite unfit for flight; and last, but not 
least, the preservation of the hive itself from the destructive 
effects of damp and exposure to weather. These, then, 
seem to be the advantages, and of the disadvantages I can 
say nothing, for apparently they are an “unknown quantity.” 
I must, however, now leave the subject to the sense of 
bee-keepers, who can after reading think the matter over and 
compare the boxes with the style of coverings they have in 
use, and consider whether the cost of a lasting covering will 
not soon be repaid and a saving effected by its adoption ; and, 
last of all, let me advise them to act according to their idea 
of the comparative utility of the different styles of skep 
protectors—to discard the one and use the other, and so to 
act as it seems to them most likely to conduce to ultimate 
profit.—F elix, 
THE CALEDONIAN APIARIAN SOCIETY. 
At the recent meeting of the above Society held in Glasgow the 
principal counties from Inverness t > Wigtown, Ayrshire, Argyleshire, 
Perthshire, Stirlingshire, Lanarkshire, &c., were well represented. On 
the revision of prize list some alterations were made. Mr. J. Anderson 
of Dairy, Ayrshire, said, to please the whim of a few novices, the most of 
the prizes for the produce from the Stewarton hive had been withdrawn. 
He begged now to propose that in consequence of the Stewarton hive 
