368 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 6, 1886. 
bees by the strain they put on them through untimely and stimulative 
feeding and other manipulations, thereby wearing out and killing 
their bees prematurely, attributing this to the natural short life of the 
bees, and not to their injudiciousness. 
The proper wintering and preserving of bees from July till May 
is still to many bee keepers a mystery—a puzzle difficult to solve, 
which they seek to find out by employing the very opposite means 
towards a successful issue. There is not a hive of my own that has 
suffered from the cold and protracted season, which we hope is nearly 
closed, unless the pure Syrians, but these bees were not located in 
deep hives as has been the case with a Carniolian hive standing next 
to the Syrian one. This is the hive that I have alluded to before, 
and has attracted toy attention during the whole season. It was a 
swarm in July. It made weight rapid, and a few pounds of sugar at 
the end of the month was all the attention it had, if I except the 
re-arranging of its covering on the top of frames. During the month 
of October it made a desperate attack on some hives to rob them, 
which bees with an aged queen are more liable to do than are those 
having a young one. After that they clustered up, and during the 
mild weather in December when other hives were flying, and even 
working, not a bee of these Carniolians attempted to fly. Neither did 
they on the 7th February, when others did so a little, and even after 
the 27th and 28th March when most others took an airing they 
stirred but little. Not more than a hundred bees flew out until the 
22nd and 25th April, when they had a thorough airing and worked 
well. Many young bees played out at same time, and notwithstand¬ 
ing the six months confinement the dead bees did not exceed a dozen, 
and there was not a speck of excreta to be seen, neither inside nor 
outside the hive. Neither was there a single thing' to be seen 
amongst the debris on false floor suggestive of dry excreta, as some 
writers will have us believe. 
The successful wintering of bees consists in having a deep hive, 
and airy, but free from draught, well covered above frames, and kept 
free from external damp. With a hive constructed as above, and 
having a ventilating floor and sufficient bees, the sun’s glare does 
not affect them during winter ; the perspiration passes either 
upwards through the insensible ventilated crown, or falls through 
the ventilating floor. The damp atmosphere that must necessarily 
enter the hive is speedily heated, and the whole moisture is carried 
away by the above agents, while the bees are not affected by damp 
from any cause whatever. When bees are kept in such a comfort¬ 
able state as this they remain quiet, and in that peculiar state of 
semi-torpor so suitable for preserving animal life during cold 
weather, feeding only at suitable times, and seemingly when full or 
satisfied the contents of the stomach are wholly consumed with little 
or no refuse to pass off as excreta, but is spent entirely to keep up 
the heat, the refuse passing off in carbonic acid gas and water 
through perspiration. I have not the slightest hesitation in saying 
that fhe successful wintering of this and my other hives is due 
entirely to the management I have laid down in these columns, 
and is what every bee-keeper should aim at. 
Queen-rearing will be our first work in the apiary, and to all 
appearance three weeks hence we will be able to begin. I shall breed 
first from pure Carniolians ; and in order to be in time, if the hives 
selected are not the most forward, I will exchange combs with 
those further advanced for some from my selected queen-raisers not 
so far advanced. By this means I shall have queens ready to 
introduce to others when they swarm. The remainder I will put in 
hives holding four nuclei, and nurse these on to be in readiness at 
any time a queen is wanted. By pursuing this course, and keeping 
up the strength of the apiary by constant breeding, all my hives 
will be in full strength during summer, and extra strong for the 
Heather. As strong hives are those only that collect large quantities 
at the moors and pay the expenses of taking them there I will take 
up this subject again, but advise bee-keepers to push forward one 
hive at least to be in readiness for swarming early and queen¬ 
rearing.—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. AVe 
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. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS.—We desire to assure those of our corre¬ 
spondents whose letters and communications are not promptly 
inserted that they are not the less appreciated on that account. 
Our pages are practically filled several days prior to publication, 
and letters arriving on Wednesday morning, except by special 
arrangement, are invariably too late for insertion. The delay in 
the publication of some of these is not of material importance, 
buc reports of meetings and shows held a week previously lose 
much or all of their value if not received in time to appear 
in the current issue. 
Books ( Warwick Square). —The best cheap elementary work on botany 
is the primer by Sir J. D. Hooker, issued as one of a series by Macmillan. 
The system of arrangement adopted in Lindley’s “Vegetable Kingdom'’ is 
a good one, but modifications of Decandolle’s and Jussieu’s systems are also 
adopted by some botanists. 
Trough on Flue ( E. M. H. C.). —The trough on the flue beneath the box 
without a bottom ought not to be kept filled with water, as the soil or 
drainage will be in contact with it and absorb the water, and so become 
sodden and sour. If the box had a bottom, then you might have kept the 
trough filled with water or liquid manure to supply moisture to the 
atmosphere. 
Cesspool ( F.J .).—Throw plenty of gypsum (plaster of Parisor Bulphate of 
lime) into the tank. The liquid must not be used thick, like cream, and leave 
a scum on the surface, but must be diluted when in that condition. We 
intended appending this to the last reply we gave on another subject, but 
omitted to do so. If both the questions had been in the same letter they 
would have been attended to. 
Show Auriculas (II. E. M.). —It is not customary for growers to raise 
seed for sale of choice named varieties, as the ripening of much seed 
weakens the plants. We know of no other way of establishing a collection 
of the best named stage varieties than by purchasing plants from florists. 
Some Show varieties are faithfully represented on page 315. 
Cinerarias (E. (?.).—The flowers sent represent a very good strain, and, 
jndging by the description of your plants, they must have been admirably 
grown. Though the varieties are of full average excellence as obtained 
from purchased seed, not one of them w r ould be rewarded with a certificate 
by the Floral Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society. The florets 
do not overlap sufficiently nor possess the requisite substance. The Auriculas 
are types of ordinary border varieties. 
Tank Leaking (TV. M.). —We are glad to have your experience, which 
solves the problem that puzzled you and the architect; undoubtedly the 
floors of tanks must be quite firm to avoid sinking, and the builder’s idea to 
have them convex is good, but they must be firm all the same. It is scarcely 
within our province to settle disputed points between architects, builders, 
or gardeners on general matters not pertaining to horticulture. If you fill 
the space with dry powdered charcoal and limewash the outer roof—indeed, 
being wood, it should be covered in the same way that “ Lanarkshire Bee¬ 
keeper ” covers his hive (see page 262)—you will secure a more equable 
temperature in the larder than by either of the plans to which you allude 
We do not desire the name of the architect. These gentlemen differ in 
opinion occasionally, the same as doctors do—and gardeners. 
Covering a Lawn Tennis Ground with Cinders (Merchant). —For 
covering the ground you should have at least 3 inches thickness of the red 
cinders, the remainder of the foot thickness should be of the black cinders, 
with clinkers, &c., and the whole rammed as firmly as possible, so as to pre¬ 
vent sinking or settling after the work is done. The cinders will not be of 
any use for lawn tennis as the frost will disturb them. The surface should 
be cemented, the top 3 incnes being formed of cement concrete in the pro¬ 
portion of one part Portland cement to two of the red cinders, brought to 
the consistency of mortar with water. The surface should be smooth, and 
have a slight incline outward every way so as to keep it clear of water, but 
the fall must not be much or it will spoil the ground for playing. About an 
inch in 12 feet is sufficient. 
Crowded Vines ( Constant Header). —It is not necessary to publish your 
letter. When Vines are what is known as “ long pruned,” though they 
often show finer bunches than by close spurring, evil is certain to follow if 
the growths are not thinned by disbudding. Every lateral must have space 
for the leaves to develope fully without being crushed and shaded by others, 
and the earlier this disbudding or thinning i3 done the better. “ Long’ 
spurs” when cut back are followed by fresh growths if the Vines are 
strong ; but if weak the growths, if produced, are weak also. If the laterals 
are anything less than a foot apart cut every alternate one back to the 
main rod, and whether fresh growths issue or not the Vines will be im¬ 
proved by the thinning. If they do hot bear well on the close-spur system, 
train up some young rods under the fullest exposure to light possible. 
When the roots of Vines are matted near the surface of the border and well 
supported, the laterals also trained thinly, Vines usually bear well when 
closely praned. If the roots are far beneath the surface and the Vines 
make long-jointed wood, close pruning often results in small bunches, or 
none at all if the Vines are weak. 
Potting Azaleas (E. I). Wicklow). —It is only under very exceptional 
circumstances that the old balls of soil should be broken and reduced. The 
Boil in which they should be potted must consist of peat and a liberal dash 
