Febmary S7, 1890. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
185 
they find plenty of forage. January and February are the main 
swarming months. After the hot weather sets in they get no 
honey at all, and have to extract sweets from ripe and bruised 
Dates and other substances that yield saccharine matter, which they 
would find the best to collect early in the morning before the sun 
is high, and while the dew was on, but as the sun in those parts is 
soon high above the earth, the bees to get every advantage would 
leave their hives at the first glimmer of day ; at least, this is how I 
account for their having this peculiarity. They also have the 
power to eat hard dry crystallised sugar even when the crystals are 
upwards of a quarter of an inch square. The first time I noted 
them doing this was after I had left some feeders in which the 
syrup bad slowly crystallised at the bottom in an empty hive. The 
Punic bees found them and cleared every particle of sugar out. 
No other bees touched it. I have since found that they can take 
a hard dry sugarloaf almost as readily as syrup. 
I have expressed myself previously as being of opinion that 
these bees would not prove as good as others for comb honey, 
especially Carniolian.s, on account of their lavish use of propolis. 
I have had to alter my opinion on this point, as last season they 
filled and sealed glass sections very much better, more evenly, and 
with whiter cappings than any other race. There was a great 
difference between our native blacks and the work they turned out. 
I have now come to the conclusion that they are the best race 
of bees ever introduced to this country. They have entirely won 
my esteem, as I was quite prejudiced against them at first, being 
fully sure that bees from the tropics, where winters are equal to 
our springs and early summer, would never winter in this country. 
I now give them first place on every point except beauty. They 
are blacker and not nearly so good looking as our common black 
bees, but “ Handsome is that handsome does,” at least that is the 
opinion of—A Hallamshire Bee-keeper. 
SINGLE CASED HIVES. 
Would “A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper ” kindly state if his hives 
are single-cased all round, how thick they are, and what influence 
the sun has on them in summer time ? Do they need protection 
from it ? I should like to make some for this season, if “ A. L. B. K.” 
would state the measurement, the number of bars required, or help 
me in any way.— Yorkshire. 
[The majority of the hives I possess are single cased. Double 
cased or thick sided hives are a great mistake if they are to be 
moved about. Single cased hives require outside protection, and 
there is nothing better than long grass well dried. A uniform degree 
of heat at aU times is desirable, and during summer archangel mats 
do well, as they shade the hive and allow evaporation to pass away. 
It is not so much the direct heat from the sun that causes combs to 
collapse as the heat from the bees through defectively constructed 
hives. I have had combs collapse several times in double cased 
hives, but never in single cased ones. Five-eighths of an inch is 
thick enough for any hive walls, being strong enough for every 
purpose. Less thick would not be sufficient for fastenings and 
handles, while thicker is too weighty, and the wood holds damp. 
Our contemporaries advise uncovering supers during hot 
weather—a mistake. Keep supers always well covered, and the 
sides of the hive as well. The bottom ventilation is the safety 
valve during excessive heat. 
As the sluggard has been told “ to go to the ant,” so do I advise 
the beginner to go to the bee and study her ways. One thing in 
this respect, I have never seen her depart from fixing her combs at 
less than 1^ inch from centre to centre. My hives are exactly 
14 inches wide inside measurement. It is immaterial whether that 
distance be strictly adhered to, but the nearer the square the 
better. 
That distance admits nine frames with an additional quarter 
inch next the sides for obvious reasons. A mouth piece half an 
inch high the whole width of the hive should be in all the divisions. 
It is formed slide and groove in front of the hive by a pair of five- 
eighths match ploughs. The rebates for bars half an inch deep and 
quarter inch wide is easy work for an amateur if he uses a drawer 
bottom plane. This tool of a special make grooves the bars for 
foundation. The front and back to receive the sides are best done 
with a saw, and should project over the sides nearly a quarter of 
an inch and rounded. This gives a neater appearance than when 
flush, and is easier made. If the above is not sufficient help, further 
queries will be answered. —A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper.] 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Eric F. Such, Maidenhead. —Sprinq Cataloque and- Amateurs' Cul¬ 
tural Guide, 1890. 
Messrs. Pitcher & Manda, Short Hills, New Jersey. —Catalogues of 
Clirysanth- mums, Single Dahlias, and Orchids. 
M. Campbell, Blantyre. —Catalogue of Florists’ Floioers. 
Dicksons, Chester. —Select Farm Seeds. 
Dicksons & Co., Edinburgh.— Farm Seeds. 
T. S. Ware, Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham. —Catalogue of Choice 
Hardy Perennials. Hardy Climbers, Pceonies, Florists' Flowers^ 
Dahlias, ^'c, 
B. R. Davis, Yeovil. —List of Begonias. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS 
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 correspondents, as doing so subjects them to 
unjustifiable trouble and expense. 
Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions, 
relating to Gardening and those on Bee subjects, and should 
never send more than two or three questions at once. AH' 
articles intended for insertion should be written on one side ot 
the paper only. We cannot reply to questions through the 
post, and we do not undertake to return rejected communica¬ 
tions. 
Books (^HopefuV). —The following will afford you much inform.-- 
tion :—Dr. Masters’ edition of Henfrey’s “Course of Botany” (Van 
Voorst), and Johnston and Cameron’s “ Elements of Agricultural 
Chemistry,” Blackwood. They can be obtained through a bookseller. 
You may write to F. W. Burbidge, Esq., Trinity College Botanic 
Gardens, Dublin (who prepared a work on drawing), enclosing a 
stamped directed envelope for reply. There are many young men with 
“ great aspirations,” but only a few of them become “ great gardeners.”' 
Close study and hard work are essential to success. 
Tullplana (D.).—Please state the nature of the information yoU 
require in reference to the treatise. 
Sheep’s IMCanure for Mushroom Bed (fl. C. TF.).—When 
somewhat dry, but not too dry, it is excellent for mixing with manur® 
from horse stables for the purpose in question. 
Rose (J. Id. F.).—As the reference is to matter in the “ Eosarians’ 
Year Book,” you had better write to the Rev. H. H. D’Ombrain, West- 
well Vicarage, Ashford, Kent, enclosing a directed postcard for his reply. 
Articles on Gardenlngr (FI PI). —You regard the matter on which 
you write just as a sensible practical man must of necessity do. Good 
matter cannot be too widely circulated, and on that principle we en¬ 
deavour to act; and we suspect you could add to the usefulness of the 
pages which have been useful to yourself during the past ten years. 
Short notes are often even more acceptable than lengthy articles. The 
Chrysanthemum Annual is in the press and will shortly be ready for 
distribution. 
Manure from Cow Sbed (^Amateur). —This is better than manure 
from horse stables for dry gravelly soil, because of its cool and moisture¬ 
holding nature. Its value depends largely on the food consumed by the- 
animals. If these are lean, young, or in milk, the manure will not con¬ 
tain much substantial food for crops, and a peck each of kainit and bone 
meal to a load would add considerably to its value. In addition to 
digging manure into the ground, heavy mulchings—that is, placing 
manure on the surface of the ground—is good for dry soils. 
Pruning- Young Apple Trees—Rhubarb (^Golden Spire ).— 
We think we understand your case now, but it would have been better 
if you had stated about the length of the shoots. You will not err, 
however, by cutting entirely out any of a weak wiry looking nature, 
shortening the longer and stronger about half their length, or more, to 
buds pointing outwards as the growths extend in the direction in which 
the buds point, and overcrowding should always be avoided. We 
should certainly object to “ planting all the ground ” with Rhubarb. 
In some of the London market gardens rows of Rhubarb are grown 
between the lows of fruit trees, and the ground being highly manure^ - 
