January 28, 18t6 ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
77 
since autumn should now be placed into others 2 inches larger. These 
plants should have the soil (fibry loam, one-seventh of manure and sand) 
pressed firmly into the pots to insure a firm sturdy growth. Those placed 
into 5-inch pots sometime ago, and now well established in them, will 
move forward quickly, and very soon produce their flowers if they can be 
accommodated, close to the glass where a temperature of 55° can be 
maintained with a circulation of air daily when favourable. Cuttings 
may now be inserted, and will root freely in small pots on a shelf in a 
temperature of about 60°. 
Cinerarias .—Small plants in 3-inch pots that are not showing their 
uower spikes may be potted, and if well attended to will prove very 
useful for the conservatory during the month of May. These plants will 
do very well in any light airy position, in the greenhouse or in a cold 
vinery, until the weather is sufficiently genial to place them in frames, 
supply plants in their largest pots with weak stimulants to assist them in 
pushing up strong flower spikes and in due time large blooms. Some care 
must be taken to preserve the foliage of these plants from damping, for if 
ey do not possess good foliage when they are in flower half their beauty 
is gone. Those with very large flowers may be disbudded, or they have 
not room to develope properly, and are therefore only a confused mass 
w en the plants have developed most of their flowers. Watch for aphides, 
and upon their first appearance fumigate the house with tobacco smoke. 
Pi imulas. Where it is a practice to save a little seed annually the 
p ants should now be selected from amoogst those just opening their 
owers. The flowers should be removed, and the plants placed on a light 
^ j -t °. 8e glass, and they will come into flower again next month, 
an if given a little artificial manure will push up strongly. It is a 
mistake if a good crop of seed is required from as few plants as possible 
o select those for seed-bearing that have become partially exhausted by 
con inuous flowering. Young stock for late spring flowering may now be 
p seed into 4-inch pots. Employ a compost of loam three parts, the other 
part being composed of leaf mould, manure, and sand. Water carefully, 
and grow these plants in a temperature of 40° to 45° on a shelf close to 
e glass. To produce plants for flowering during the month of October 
sow seed at once on the surface of fine soil in a pan and place it in 
risk heat. Fill the pan with light soil, and on the surface about a 
quarter of an inch of leaf mould that has passed through a fine sieve. 
cover *h e seed, but water it with a fine-rose can after it is sown 
an he pan is covered with a square of glass until germination has 
commenced. b & 
Chrysanthemums. —Where large blooms are required next autumn, or 
arge bushes for decoration, cuttings should be rooted without delay, 
e ect stout healthy shoots from the base for this purpose and insert them 
Singly m thumb pots. The cuttings will root quickly under handlights 
in a temperature of 50°. When the young plants are rooted they should 
e gradually hardened and subjected as quickly as possible to cool treat¬ 
ment before they have a chance of drawing up weakly. 
Mignonette .—Plants that have ceased flowering should have all seed 
p ds removed and the shoots tied down of all that are trained upon 
standard trellises. These, if kept cool in a light airy position and care- 
tully watered, will soon start again in growth, and in a short time produce 
large spikes of bloom. A little artificial manure should be applied to the 
surface of the soil to stimulate them into active growth. 
PURCHASING STOCKS. 
Those who are intending to become bee-keepers, and who 
have not already done so, will now be thinking of providing 
themselves with stock hives, unless indeed they are content 
to wait and purchase an early swarm. There are several 
periods which are very suitable for beginning bee keeping. 
Stocks can be bought much cheaper at the time of the honey 
harvest, but thon there is the risk of wintering. Again, 
stocks can be bought in midwinter, and they can be bought 
in spring, when, however, a considerably greater price will 
be asked to cover the expense and risk and trouble of winter¬ 
ing them. Midwinter is often recommended as a suitable 
time, and if precautions are taken but slight objection can be 
raised. One thing seems to be overlooked by many who 
advise the purchase of stocks in the winter season, and it is 
this, that if bees are disturbed they gorge themselves with 
honey, and if they are unable after this gorging to take a 
flight dysentery sets in, and the stock may be lost. To avoid 
this risk bees should never be removed unless there is a 
strong probability, amounting almost to a certainty, that a 
fine day will soon occur to enable them to take a flight. 
Spring, however, notwithstanding the increased price, is the 
time when stocks can be bought with the least risk of loss by 
those who have no practical knowledge of bee-keeping. 
Before concluding the purchase of a hive several points 
must be carefully attended to, and what these are it shall be 
my endeavour to show. Suppose, then, in the month of 
April it is intended to buy a stock. The intending purchaser 
should on a fine sunny day go and stand by the side of it 
and watch the number of bees flying in and out, and if from 
thirty to fifty a minute return to the hive, a large proportion 
of them laden with pollen, an almost certain knowledge of 
two facts has thus easily been ascertained. These are, that the 
stock possesses a laying queen, and this is proved when the 
majority of bees are seen carrying in pollen on their thighs, 
and is strong in bees. It is well, after being satisfied on 
these points, and if there is any doubt return another day 
and watch again, to ask on the chance of being told the truth 
whether the stock fixed on is an old one, or a first swarm, or 
a cast; if it is an old one, whether it swarmed last year. 
By these questions you will know that if the stock is an old 
one which swarmed last year it has a young queen ; if it did 
not so swarm it may have an old queen, which may be so old 
as to be almost worthless. If the stock was a first swarm 
last year the queen is almost certain to be an old one, while 
if the stock was a cast last year the queen is as certain to be 
a young one. Having asked these questions it is possible to 
some extent to find out the veracity of the answers by gently 
turning up the hives and looking at the colour of the comb, 
which in a last year’s swarm or cast will be of a light colour, 
while in an old stock the comb will be almost black. Other 
things being equal a hive containing light-coloured comb is 
far preferable to one containing black, because in the latter 
many cells are rendered useless by reason of the superfluity 
of pollen generally found in old stocks. 
If, then, a stock can be found which has a young queen, 
is strong in numbers, and weighs if in a skep some 20 lbs. 
or 30 lbs., the purchase may safely be concluded, more 
especially so if the comb is of a light colour and built in a 
regular form. Such a stock cannot fail, with even moderately 
good management, to do well, and will probably, whether the 
owner desires it or not, unless supering is more carefully 
attended to than can be expected from one who has bees in 
his care for the first time, send out a strong swarm in May, 
which will be worth half the price paid for the stock. In the 
spring a stock must be moved at least two miles from its old 
stand if loss is to avoided, and a good way to effect such 
removal is, if the hive is a common skep, to loosen it from 
its board some hours before removing it, and at evening 
gently lift it on to a piece of cheese-cloth, which being tightly 
bound round it will keep in the bees for a considerable time ; 
and if not more than three or four miles have to be traversed 
a stick may be put through the handle of the skep, which 
may thus be carried most easily and safely by two persons, 
one on each side, and with the total avoidance of jerking and 
jolting which are sometimes so disastrous to combs when 
not properly secured. 
With due attention to these few points even a novice may, 
if he is unable to get the help of an experienced man, hope, 
by thinking for himself and using his judgment, to avoid 
falling into any of the mistakes which are so often com¬ 
mitted by men who purchase stocks merely on the word 
of the owner that they are sound, strong, and in good 
condition.— Felix. 
THE WEATHER. 
During the past month the weather has been more variable 
than I ever remember. Although the frost has never been severe, 
the excessive moisture after the cold but dry summer is telling 
hard upon Primulas, Polyanthuses, and Alpine Auriculas, Snow¬ 
drops, and Crocuses. My hive roofs being zinc-covered, sustain 
no injury from either melting snow or rain as do those of wood 
only, but in order to lessen the loss of bees it is advisable 
to restore all hives to their normal appearance. If my bees 
persist in flying out while the snow lies, we lift up the ladder 
attached to the porch, closing them in, and ventilate from 
beneath. Bees located in such hives will not suffer from tern- 
