390 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 13, 1866. 
an urgent one, and demand the attention of all. At present there 
appears to be nothing superior to plain glass jars, and it is always 
well at any rate not to appear to charge anything for the glass, the 
extra price can be put on the honey. People appear to prefer to give 
Is. a pound for a pound glass of honey rather than lid. for the 
honey and Id. for the glass. Each one must look to his own 
customers and suit their varied wants and requirements. Pretty 
vases please some, plain jars are fancied by others ; cheap, clean and 
clear glass of any description is my favourite honey jar, neatly, yet 
unpretentiously, labelled “ pure honey,” and tightly sealed. All jars 
should be made returnable to home customers ; a fair commission be 
given to those who undertake to sell on these terms, and as much 
honey as they require for home use free ; the best quality always 
being supplied, no inferior being allowed to leave tke apiary. 
Swarms this year will, in neglected apiaries, be later than usual, few 
stocks now being strong enough to give much prospect of a May 
increase. 
The season is now before us ; the future, with all its uncertainties, 
failures, and successes, lies hidden from our view. I can only hope 
that each one may realise how profitable bee-keeping is when proper 
attention is paid to details of management, and how great the 
pleasure in supplying the wants and forestalling the desires of bees, 
helping, assisting, and watching them as they labour in a ceaseless 
etfort to provide for the storms of a yet distant winter.— Felix. 
SECTIONS OF HONEYCOMB FROM A FRAME HIVE. 
I should be grateful for information on the following points, in con¬ 
nection with bee-keeping, through the columns of your valuable paper. 
I have a bar-frame hive capable of taking sixteen standard size frames 
parallel with the entrance, into which I propose putting a swarm as soon 
as I obtain one. What would be the best way to manage the hive in 
order to obtain the best yield of honey in 1 lb. sections, and to leave the 
bees sufficient stores for winter? And which is the btst way to fix 
foundation in sections ? What would be the simplest and most expeditious 
way of extracting from twelve to eighteen frames of honey, so that the 
combs may be used again ? It scarcely seems necessary to purchase an 
extractor for so small a quantity. Does Mr. Thomson’s “ Essay on 
Bees ” contain a description of the Stewarton hive and tbe mode of 
working it? Where is Pettigrew’s “ Handy Book of Bees” published? 
The last edition of “ Manual for the Many, Bee-keeping” being, I am in¬ 
formed, out of print, will another edition be produced; and, if so, when 
will it be ready ?—F. E. B. 
[It depends altogether on circumstances how your hive should be 
managed to obtain the best yield of honeycomb ; time, size of swarm, and 
locality are all potent factors. But, supposing all things are favourable, 
then your hive should be nearly filled with comb (in all its sixteen frames) 
before any sections are put on. If one swarm is not sufficient for this in 
time for the honey season, two swarms should be joined. Then put your 
sections on the top, half covering the top at first only, and as soon as 
these are well begun add more, continuing adding empty ones and removing 
full ones as the season advances. The form of your hive is not the proper 
one for obtaining surplus honey, and the frames parallel to the entrance 
is not a point of good bee husbandry. The sixteen frames are all required 
for breeding and storing honey for the future wants of the bees ; it would 
be better a little larger. If you would adopt the tiering system advocated 
by “ A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper ” and others in this Journal for the past 
thirty years, and now universally adopted by those who opposed it as well 
as nearly all others, you would find it more to your profit and to the 
comfort of the bees. The best way to fix comb foundation in sections is 
to have them grooved, then with a teaspoon that has been left in the wax 
while melting in a glue pot, pour a little wax, so that it will keep in the 
groove, first on one side then on the other, holding the section a little 
elevated, so that the wax will pass over the whole length of frame or 
section. 
When honey is not very thick, by carefully uncapping the cells and 
placing them flatways on a sieve, the honey will drip out; but the process 
is a slow one and deteriorates the quality of the honey. When honey is 
thick nothing but a presser will force it out. This was the case last year. 
Tthe centrifugal extractor was of no use even for our Clover honey. There 
is a description of a cheap honey extractor in the Journal of Horticulture, 
which appeared some twenty years ago, similar to the “Melpel” G. 0. 
Wray claims to have invented ; but if you wish to be at little or no 
expense, why not try the original extractor, put the combs in a can with 
a handle, and swing round your head until the honey is ejected ? 
The Essay contains a description and the management of the Stewarton 
hive. Pettigrew’s “ Handy Book on Bees ” may be had from Blackwood 
and Sons, Edinburgh. The manual on bee-keeping will be reprinted 
and will be advertised when ready.] 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
James Yeitch & Sons, Chelsea. —Catalogues of New Plants for 1886 
( illustrated) and Bedding Plants. 
E. G. Henderson & Son, Maida Vale, W .—Catalogue of New, Bare, and 
Other Plants. 
James Dickson & Sons, Newton Nurseries, Chester.— Catalogue of Stove 
Greenhouse, and Conservatory Plants; List of New Boses, tjc. 
*,* 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 tbe 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. 
Waterproofing Calico ( Ebor ).—A cheap and easy mode of rendering 
calico waterproof, so as to make it applicable as a temporary substitute for 
glass as a covering to frames, is by the following process :—Take pale linseed 
oil three pints, sugar of lead 1 oz., and white rosin 4 ozs.; grind the sugar of 
lead with a little of the oil, then add the rest and the rosin. Stir the whole 
well together in a large iron pot over a gentle fire. Tack the calico 
loosely on the frame, and apply the mixture while hot with a large brush. 
Captain Christy Rose ( C. E. Smith). —Some kinds of Roses are more apt 
than others to produce blooms such as the one you have sent to us. It is 
due in many instances to the unripened state of the wood. Poverty of the 
soil will also bring about the same result. A check from some cause or 
other will bring about the production of green-eyed monsters. Another and 
a certain cause is unduly forcing them into bloom before they have time to 
thoroughly develops themselves. But in most cases it is either due to 
poverty of the soil or inactivity of the roots. 
Liquid Manure for Fruit Trees, &c. ( F. /.).—The best kind of liquid 
manure you can make to use “ stiff ” for diluting with water is soot. Place 
two bushels of Boot in a cask and add thirty-two gallons of water. Stir 
well with a broom handle, or an old worn-out birch broom is best, and 
repeat until the soot is thoroughly mixed. A pint of the stuff so formed 
may be added to three gallons of water for watering fruit trees, Straw¬ 
berries, &c. The whole must be well stirred up before use. Guano may be 
used at the rate of an ounce to a gallon of water, and it only needs placing 
in the water and stirring up when used. 
Warts on Vine Leaves {J. S.). —The warts or excrescences on the 
under side of the Vine leaves are caused by a check to the evaporation from 
the foliage and consequent stagnation, followed by a period in which the 
evaporation is excessive and the tissues are ruptured, hence the excres¬ 
cences appear. It is usually most prevalent in dull seasons, when air 
cannot well be admitted without lowering the temperature. Id dull 
and cold periods a little extra fire heat should be afforded so as to allow of 
air being given to induce a circulation, and this without lowering the tem¬ 
perature. The warts are not so numerous as to injure the Vines, and have 
nothing to do with phylloxera. 
Strawberry Blossoms without Anthers (J. E.). —The usual cause of 
the blossoms not having anthers is a deficiency of moisture in the previous 
growing season, which prevents the proper development of the buds. Lack 
of anthers sometimes arises from excessive luxuriance in the plants, and in 
that case the embryo flowers are not properly formed, being in that 
condition known as not “ thoroughly ripened.” In your case we think it is 
due to the drought of last season, and the supplies given between the rows 
have induced a late growth. The loss of anthers is sometimes due to cold. 
With finer weather the late blossoms will probably come quite right, and the 
blossoms without anthers may set through pollen reaching the stigmas 
from other blossoms. 
Worms in Lawns (D. Watson). —Either of the following two methods 
may be tried; both have answered the purpose of extirpating worms :—1, 
Half an ounce of corrosive sublimate (bichloride of mercury) dissolved in 
fifteen gallons of water will cause worms to come to the surface ; but care 
must be taken that fowls do not eat them, otherwise they will be poisoned. 
A peck of freshly made quicklime mixed with forty gallons of water, and 
allowed to stand till it clears, if applied through the rose of a watering-pot 
will have the same effect. These mixtures may also be used to remove 
worms from flower pots. 2, Place a peck of quicklime in thirty gallons of 
water, Btir well up, and allow it to stand for a few days until it is quiie clear; 
then water the lawn thoroughly with the clear lime water. The worms will 
come to the surface, when they may be swept up and cleared away. This is 
an old and useful mode of eradication. 
Buckland Sweetwater Vine {Clifton). —This Grape is generally very 
shy even under good cultivation, and often fails to carry a crop when grown 
by the most skilful cultivators. If you desire a white Grape you cannot do 
better than procure a Vine or two of Foster’s Seedling, which is a free and 
certain fruiter, and will do well with the same treatment as Black Ham¬ 
burgh. If inarched at the base this season, and the old rods cut off at 
pruning time, they would make strong canes another year. If you decide, 
however, to fill the space with Black Hamburghs you may commence doing 
so at once by encouraging shoots to extend from the base. Some of the 
lower laterals could be removed to give them light. You will save time by 
