594 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December SI, 1885. 
to view on the top of the debris numerous flakes of was, proving 
that breeding has started. All my hives, except those in deep 
ones, have aired themselves ; proving again that bees are more 
quiescent in deep but narrow hives than when in shallow ones. 
THE MEMORY OF BEE?. 
On the morning of the 17th the thermometer registered 50°. 
The air was resounding with the hum of many bees, a fitting 
opportunity to give a nucleus containing about a gill of bees 
their freedom, as already a few were returning from the window 
to their little hive of 6 inches square by 4 inches deep. It stands 
upon the inside sill a foot from the glass, and has stood there 
for nearly two months with a loss of not more than four bees. 
Six weeks before I set them outside with the intention of giving 
them an airing, when a number of them dew out, but the sun 
became obscured and they immediately returned; so I removed 
them indoors, where they have been since, and where they have 
partly aired themselves. I now lifted the sash, and in a few 
minutes they made a rally, returning to their hive; but I 
observed a few of them flying about the place where I had pre¬ 
viously attempted to let them have an airing, though the time 
did not occupy more than five minutes altogether, and the bees 
were not many seconds out nor many yards from their hive, 
showing how retentive their memory was. The moral is, Never 
shift bees short distances after summer weather is gone. One 
important thing I have omitted, but mention it now. A good 
deal of the shearings of the combs were lying in the front of the 
hive, which adhered to the bees, annoying and distressing them, 
I cleared away, which if I had failed to do would have caused 
the loss of many bees, as they will not return to their hive until 
their toilet is completed, and during wintry weather this cannot 
be performed before they are chilled. How valuable, then, are 
perforated floors that allow all debris to fall through, and keep 
the hive airy and free from damp, 
BEE HOUSES. 
That so few bees and their queen can live in good health and 
comfort during so cold a season is due entirely to the comfort 
afforded by the shelter of the house and free from draught by 
keeping the window closed unless when the bees are airing. 
This is all the difference between the right and the wrong ways 
of preserving the bees in health, or having them diseased, and 
thereby depopulating the hive. When kept in bee houses guard 
against draught by moveable side partitions or packing, as well 
as underneath, and have shutters, so that the bees may be con¬ 
fined in darkness, free from draught, but having plenty of air 
during severe weather, and better at night too; opening these 
only when the day is favourable until the season is advanced, so 
far that the bees will be unaffected by any change of the 
atmosphere. 
FEEDING. 
Where bees were attended to and properly prepared for the 
winter campaign no manipulations are necessary. If, however, 
any hive is in imminent want, prepare some syrup of a moderate 
thickness. Withdraw one or more combs from the hive, and 
first on the one side then on the other fill with the syrup, pouring 
it from a spouted vessel at a good elevation, then replace and 
cover up as speedily as possible. All that trouble may, however, 
be obviated if frame feeders are used, as the syrup is never 
away from the bees, and there being so little of it damp is not 
engendered, while the waxed trough is more natural than any 
other feeder. Straw hives will require to be held at an angle if 
the operation is necessary with them, or candy maybe supplied, 
but syrup is better if properly applied. 
DAMP FLOORS. 
It is to be hoped that there will be few of these, especially 
amongst the hives of the readers of this Journal; but, if so, 
substitute clean dry boards at once. 
FLOWERS. 
It will be well from this onwards to take a note of all flowers 
that are most frequented by the bees and which yield most pollen, 
propagating the best for another season. Arabis alpina is a 
great favourite, yielding both honey and pollen, but of this there 
are many varieties. I have a seedling that never dies from the 
severest frosts; besides, it is more profuse in flower and lasts 
longer than the original variety. It continued in flower this 
year from February till October. Then I have another variety 
that is in flower now, and has been these two months past, which 
I would have preferred had it been a little earlier. Doubtless 
garden flowers can only assist the bees when there is a paucity 
of them in the fields, and this occurring in spring is the most 
necessary time to have them in flower and of the best varieties. 
Nevertheless, it is both pleasing and interesting during _tli e 
whole year to see the bees working on the garden flowers, and 
when these are absent much of the pleasure of bee-keeping is 
lost. To have flowers all the season for the bees should be the 
study of all. Some, however, have not ground to keep up a suc¬ 
cession. Perhaps my plot of undug and untrod flower garden 
may be copied by some. It scarcely ever wants a flower and is 
often very pleasing. It is covered now with Sedum acre aureum, 
the plat is fringed with white Primulas and other low-growing 
plants of a hardy nature. The autumn Colchicums are still in 
bloom and have been for two months. I do not remember 
these lasting so long in years past. When January comes 
the Aconite, Snowdrop, and Crocus appears, followed by the 
Scillas, Grape Hyacinths, Jonquils, and Tulips; here and there 
a Dutch Hyacinth and other miscellaneous bulbs keeps up the 
display till May, when the Hyacinthus Nonscriptus of three 
varieties, white, pink, and blue of many shades, give pleasure to 
both bees and bee-master. When these are past several varieties 
of large-flowered but low-growing Campanula push up and 
spread, continuing in bloom till August. Meanwhile the Sedum 
has been kept under by pruning and by the action of its taller 
neighbour, and wherever a bare patch appears an annual of some 
sort or other is dibbled in, and thus the succession of flowers 
are kept up the whole year without much labour or expense. 
During the months of September and October the Sedum covers 
the surface, which sets off to great advantage and supports the 
slender stalks of the Colchicums lovely, yet modest, which at 
the time when other flowers are disappearing are very acceptable. 
—A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
THE BEST HIVE IN CREATION. 
Will you kindly tell me if the “ Best Hive in Creation ” is to be 
seen in London ? Messrs. Neighbour & Son advertise the “ Renfrewshire 
Stewarton;” is that “the best” according to “A Lanarkshire Bee- 
keeper’s” idea or not? Your reply will greatly oblige.—L. Belsham. 
[I cannot say whether Messrs. Neighbour have samples of the above 
hive at present; if not, they are likely to have them in the new year. 
Any hive can be used in the case, but square hives are more suitable than 
octagonal ones. The “ Renfrewshire Stewarton ” is one of the best type, 
and considered by many the best of all. One thing certain is that tiering 
hives are rapidly coming into more repute, and with persons that did all 
th°y could some years ago to disparage them in the estimation of those 
beginning bee-keeping. I may add that to get full benefit from the hive 
possessing reversible frames, it should be constructed so that the frames 
can be manipulated without interfering with the supers. This is accom¬ 
plished by having the hive to open on the side. The frames rest upon a 
square frame made of angled iron, which slides upon the slide proper. 
For the purpose of giving slack between the supers and the hive, a wedge 
is wrought upon the under side of the outside of the frame, and another 
fixed on the inner, or side opposite the opening end. By this arrangement, 
whenever the bar on which the frames are suspended is drawn back a 
little, it drops and rises again when pushed in, similar to self-acting floors 
as lately described.— Lanarkshire Bee-keeper.] 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Harrison & Sons, Market Place, Leicester.— General Seed Catalogue for 
1886 ( illustrated ). 
H. Cannell & Sons, Swanley.— List of Flower Seeds. 
Ireland Si Thomson, 20, Waterloo Place, Edinburgh.— Catalogue of 
Vegetable and Flower Seeds. 
Laing & Co., Forest Hill, London, S.E.— Catalogue of Seeds, Neueltees, 
Begonias, tic., for 1886. 
J. Cheal & Sons, Lowfield Nurseries, Crawley, Sussex.— Catalogue of 
Garden Seeds for 1886. 
G. H. Wilkinson, Commercial Road, Maritzburg, South Africa.— Cata¬ 
logue of Trees, Seeds, and 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 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 
