413 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
r May 13, 1890. 
tended to delay swarming, and when removed at the commence- ) 
ment of the honey flow immediately crowded the bees into the 
supers. The combs built in the ‘‘raise” were employed for guides 
or “ tooks,” as they were termed, for the honey boxes, the splitting 
of the top bar to receive the combs, and the heated iron along 
with wax to fasten them, were plans or contrivances invented to 
complete the system, and the way we produced ornamental designs 
before foundation was heard of. Height is no obstacle for bees 
to reach supers ; it is in accordance with the nature of the bee 
to ascend, and in opposition to the clumsy method of lateral 
extension. 
Surplus honey serves no good purpose in a hive during summer, 
and if it is sealed, remove it, but in doing so care must be exercised 
to prevent brood drawing. A little food will serve the purpose. 
Honey is of more value than sugar ; the latter may be profitably 
employed, instead of returning the division of honey. In all cases 
where it is inadvisable to remove the upper division, the side 
combs, if sealed, should either be removed and frames of founda¬ 
tion substituted, or the seals broken, so as to induce the bees to 
enter the supers, which they do reluctantly if they have to pass 
over sealed combs. 
When bees are located in a full sized hive, all the small quan¬ 
tities and different varieties of honey, sometimes (the reverse of 
fine), is stored above, leaving ample breeding space below. Such 
divisions will be best returned to the hive, and the bees will neither 
be disheartened nor lessened in numbers by the act, and supers will be 
filled expeditiously, providing the foregoing precautions are taken, 
as well as to preserve the normal form of the crown of the hive. 
The foregoing will perhaps impress bee-keepers with the importance 
of the three-di visioned bodied Lanarkshire hive, and to answer 
several other queries which a modern writer has prompted by ad¬ 
vising bee-keepers “ not on any account to purchase a hive that has 
not the Association standard size frames, as another size will only 
be worth the price of so much firewood !” But apparently the 
author is not very clear upon the question, for after descinting 
upon the inadvisability of using deep frames for storitying and 
setting forth the advantages of shallow frames, he says :—“We 
can see many advantages in thus using shallow frames for extracting 
purposes. No wire need be used, the combs are always clean, the 
difficulty of uncapping is reduced to a minimum, they very rarely 
break out of the frame when extracting, and the honey is of as 
fine a colour as that extracted from sections. To Mr. Carr of 
Cheshire we are indebted for the promulgation of this system.” 
Not so fast Mr. Webster, the system was promulgated a long 
time before Mr. Carr’s day, but you are very near correct in what 
goes before the last sentence, only it is a pity your experience did 
not extend further to have enabled you to state the properties 
the shallow frames possess for bee-keeping generally. Perhaps the 
next edition of your useful work will do so, as well as to remove 
other errors, and tell us a hive not having standard frames need 
not “ be burned.” The book has been sent me with a number of 
queries, but no name attached, so I suppose they are readers of 
this Journal, which I may answer again, and supplement the 
answers to “R. A. C.” as the season advances. 
CovERixG Hives. 
“ Will ‘A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper ’ give his advice as to covering 
hives, as many more are interested than myself ? I use the hives 
without any external covering further than filling the top box with 
hay, then covering with a sheet of iron weighted with biicks. I 
shade with mats during the summer. I would like to hear of the 
advantages, as I thought sacking would hold water instead of 
allowing it to escape. But if covering is better I must adopt it. 
I must own that the paint blisters and peels off uncovered 
hives.—R. C.” 
It is a good plan before tearing down a structure either to 
have a makeshift or a new permanent building ready for the recep¬ 
tion of the inmates whatever they may be. Our modern reformers 
in bee-keeping did not adhere to this policy, being ignorant both of 
the habits and nature of bees, as well as of the methods of managing 
them and their domiciles. They set to work demolishing all the 
appurtenances connected with bee-keeping, and some of them went 
80 far as to express their dissatisfaction with the build and form 
of the bees themselves, and mxde an effort to alter the structure, 
but the bee still reigns supreme, and happily the bee-keepers 
north of the Tweed maintained their position. Double cased hives 
are expensive, clumsy failures ; single cased hives are light and 
handy, suitable for every phase of bee-keeping and every clime, 
but they must be protected. Both single and double cased hives 
unprotected or unventilated during winter condense the moisture 
upon the inner walls, rotting the combs, destroying the honey, and 
causing death and disease to the bees. The damp oozes through 
the wood and lifts the paint and rots the hive. Double cased 
hives always do this, but well protected single cased ones will carry 
the perspiration of the bees ihrough the top of the hive and its 
entrance, as well as what falls upon the sides will pass through 
the walls, hence the reason I advocate thin walled hives. Well 
protected single walled hives during summer prevent the heat of 
the sun melting the combs as well as preventing the bees crowding 
out and loitering instead of working. During the spring the hive 
is kept at a uniform degree of temperature, thus breeding is 
carried on uninterruptedly and in a regular manner without the 
slightest chance of brood drawing or brood chilling taking place. 
Even with all our care during extremely warm weather bees are 
apt to get too hot. I shade as well as cover my hives with damped 
grass or cloths. About twenty years ago I introduced a shade for 
bee hives—a light simple contrivance, as a framework crossed the 
top of the hive, and a sheet of calico thrown over it held in its 
place by pockets with stones. This simple device, like most others, 
was appropriated. Mr. Abbott might have seen it at Glasgow ; 
though shortly after he wrote that “No one had attempted a shade 
for hives ” 
I almost forgot the most important part. Well covered hives of 
bees will build more comb during the night than naked ones, con¬ 
sequently more honey is gathered next day, and the comb is always 
whiter. I trust these few hints will enable bee-keepers to see the 
advantages gained, and place themselves in a position independent 
of the advice of any association, and enjoy the “ privilege of inde¬ 
pendence ” at least with bees.—A Lax.xrksiiire Bee-keeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Thomas S. Ware, Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham, London.— 
Catalogue of Dahlias anil other Plants. 
James Carter & Co., 2.37, High Holborn, London.— Catalogue of Seeds 
and Plants. 
James Veitch & Sons, .514, King’s Road, Chelsea.— Catalogue of d\ew 
Plants jor 1S90 ^illustrated'). 
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. All 
articles intended 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 communica¬ 
tions. 
Summer-plncblng' Trult Trees (U. J.). —Thin the shoots to 
prevent overcrowding, and allow the growths to extend till July, then 
pinch them as required. It the trees require much summer pruning to 
keep them within bounds it is certain they will not be profitable, and 
should have their vigour arrested for the formation of fruit buds. This 
can only be effected by judicious root-pruning or lifting, and affording 
firmer soil. Remove the ill-placed shoots at once. The wood is firm or 
soft, fruitful or unfruitful, as it is exposed to the sun and air. 
Chalk for Tfew Carden ^Imprimatur). —From your description 
of the soil a dressing of chalk would probably do good ; but unless it is 
in very small particles it might be better to trench the land first and 
have the chalk placed on it in small heaps before winter, so that it 
would be disintegrated by the action of wet and frost for spreading and 
forking into the ground in spring. From 60 to 80 cubic yards per acre 
are applied to heavy chalkless soils. The best chalk for your purpose is 
usually taken from a good depth in pits, not from near the surface. 
Mildew on Roses (/<’. J.).—Syringing with a solution of softsoap 
2 ozs. to the gallon, and a handful of sulphur added to three gallons, is 
an effectual remedy, applied so as to reach every part of the plant, and 
is good against other or insect pests. We presume it is the white mildew 
to which you allude. It may also be destroyed by Harris’s sulphide of 
potassium. Indeed sulphur is the most reliable frustrator of its 
ravages. Sulphur water may be prepared as follows;—Boil lb. 
flowers of sulphur and I 4 lb. quicklime in a gallon of water, preferably 
in an earthen pot, for a quarter of an hour, stirring constantly whilst 
boiling. Allow it to settle, and when cool pour off the clear liquid and 
place in a stone bottle, keeping closely corked for use. Use a quarter of 
a pint of the preparation to a three-gallon can of water, applying it 
with a syringe. 
