February 8,1887. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
99 
point of union with the stocks they may frequently be split into two or 
more plants with advantage, this being one of the best methods of in¬ 
creasing own-rcot Roses. 
Climbing Roses .—These usually occupy the most prominent positions, 
yet strange to relate, are the most neglected. In many instances they are 
plantel against sunny walls, perhaps quite close to more vigorous 
climbers or shrubs, and here they seldom get half enough moisture and 
very little assistance in the shape of manure or fresh compost. No wonder 
they soon become shabby and an eyesore rather than an ornament. If 
not actually lifted and replanted they ought at least to be occasionally 
partially lifted, much of the old soil being removed and a fresh compost 
supplied consisting of two parts of loam or good garden soil to one of 
partially decayed stable or farmyard manure. This coupled with a fairly 
free use of the knife and liberal supplies of water at the roots early in the 
summer or before they have become very dry will put new life into the 
*f ees - , We prefer Teas and Noieettes for all but the coldest positions, 
these blooming almost constantly throughout the Rose season. Such 
as Slarechal Niel, Gloire de Dijon, Celine Forestier, William Allen 
Richardson, Jaune Desprez, Bouquet d’Or, Cheshunt Hybrid, Heine 
Mane Henriette, Safrano, Catherine Mermet, Alba rosea, Climbing 
Devoniensis, Madame Lambard, and Souvenir d’Elise are the best for 
sunny walls and pillars. For exposed positions the ol 1 China Ros s are 
suitable ; these, better known as “ Monthly Roses,” flowering nearly all 
the year round. The Hybrid China and Hybrid Bourbon varieties are also 
hardy and free, suitable alike for cold walls, pillars, or fronts of shrub¬ 
beries. The best of the Bourbon Roses is Souvenir de la Malmaison, and 
this will flower abundantly and almost coastantly against all but north 
aspects. Acidalie grows to a much greater height and is very free flower¬ 
ing, but the blooms are not so serviceable as those of the Souvenir. The 
wh’teand yellow Banksians are very suitable for sunny walls and pillars, 
but these, it mu-t be remembered, are only summer flowering, and there¬ 
fore not' so serviceable as Teas. For high and cold walls and other 
positions the Ayrshire Roses, such as Dundee Rambler, Splendens, and 
Alice Gray, and also the Boursault Amadis, and the evergreen Felicite 
Perpetuelle, Rampante, Bankneflora, and Leopoldine d’Orleans are all 
suitable. Any respectable nurseryman will supply any or all of the fore- 
§ oin F> w hich are often kept in pot*, and they may be planted at once. 
Herbaeeovs Borders .—Some of the most vigorous herbaceous plants 
•re gross feeders, and unless very frequently lilted, divided, and replanted 
ln so 'b they soon present a starved miserable appearance. Not only 
the old stools push up far too many weakly growths, but if a long spell 
of hot and dry weather is experienced they flag badly and flower but little, 
inis is especially the case with the Phloxes, of which there are many 
beautiful varieties, strong clumps of these as well as Asters or Michaelmas 
Daisies, Pyrethrum uliginosum, Pyrethruro roseum in variety, Spiraeas 
of sorts, Geum coccineum, Hemerocallis flavs, Flag Irises, Achilleas, 
't* 0 ™ 8 *'' and Potentillas, all pay for transplanting. If all the bulb jus- 
rooted p'ants are properly labelled or marked in some way, the work of 
lifting the above named need not be delayed till late spring, at which 
time there is much other impoitant work to attend to. If it is neces¬ 
sary to completely renovate and replant an herbaceous border it may be 
safely done in open weather at this time of year. 
IS 
he bee keeper 
^ (a 
AAA-/ Uli/i-V i.VL/Ju/X 1/Xv. 
THE APIARY. 
Nothing conduces more to successful manipulation than 
a well-ordered and convenient apiary. Every bee-keeper of 
experience will agree that a little extra trouble bestowed at 
the commencement will materially lessen many difficulties 
which are sure to beset even a practical and experienced 
bee-keeper when he least expects them, and is therefore but 
little prepared for such emergencies, although he may have 
been warned that such difficulties are certain to arise occa¬ 
sionally, even when every possible precaution has been taken 
to prevent the unexpected happening. It is a sure in¬ 
sight into the general character of a bee-keeper to see his 
apiary overgrown with grass and tall rank weeds. Neatness 
and order cost little, but experience will teach many that 
slovenliness and carelessness bring endless trouble, certain 
loss, and continual annoyance. 
It is necessary always to have a space immediately below 
the floorboard perfectly clear, so that a dead bee or any 
unusual debris ejected from the hive may at once be detected. 
Grass may be allowed to grow if care is tsken to keep it 
short, but it is far preferable, unless there some special 
local objection, to have a space in front of each stock quite 
bare of herbage and kept clear of all accumulation of rubbish. 
For a small collection of hives—and for my own part I am 
not at all sure that the same method might not be pursued 
with advantage and profit even in a large apiary—it is better 
to make a place for the stocks before they are placed in 
position. There are several ways in which this may be done 
with good results, but no method is simpler or gives greater 
satisfaction than turning over the sods, thus burying the 
grass or other herbage, placing on the top of these upturned 
sods about 2 inches of cinders from the furnace, clinkers at 
the bottom and the smaller asheB at the top, treading these 
firm, then placing an inch of sand on this foundation and 
again treading firm, leaving the whole for a few days until 
the sand has been to some extent washed down, when after 
another treading it will be found that a good surface has 
been obtained, which with a little occasional care bestowed 
upon it will look neat, will enable the bee-keeper at once to 
detect anything thrown out of the hive, will afford a warm 
bed for bees failing to reach the alighting board at the first 
attempt, and will, lastly, be a very convenient place for the 
bee-keeper when manipulating to use for temporarily 
depositing a smoker or other article which he may be using. 
Such a surface may bo prepared not only in front of the 
hives but also between, under, and behind them; but it is 
most important to have such a surface in front of the hive, 
even if on the other sides the grass is still allowed to remain. 
It is far wiser to devote the apiary to the bees and the garden 
to flowers, and not to attempt to grow flowers around and 
about the hives, as I have so often seen those who have had 
little experience in bee-keeping begin to do when planning 
an apiary. No shrub or tree must be allowed to grow imme¬ 
diately in front of the hive, but at the back a hedge is a very 
great protection, especially if it shields the hives from the 
cold north-east winds which, blowing for weeks together in 
early spring, are the cause of destruction to many of the 
hardest workers, driving them away from the hive, which, 
after several attempts, they are often unable to .regain if the 
hives are so placed that these cold blasts can blow with full 
force upon them. Trees and shrubs at some little distance 
from the stocks are useful, but if the trees are very tall some 
swarms may be lost unless means are taken to enable the 
bee-keeper to reach the bees when they have swarmed near 
the top. As a rule, however, unless a swarm is disturbed it 
will settle in a low bush not far removed from the hive; but 
when a swarm has been once hived and gone forth again, or 
when the cluster has been disturbed, the second “ knit ” is 
not infrequently in a place somewhat more difficult of access. 
Hives must not be placed too near a hedge or wall. Suffi¬ 
cient room must be left between such hedge or wall and the 
hives to allow free passage between, and also to prevent the 
drippings from falling on to the hives, and so creating damp. 
All places where mice or toads might harbour should be 
filled up, and care be taken that stands for the hives should 
afford no protection to any bee enemies. The whole apiary 
should be kept neat and free from everything which ought 
not to be there. The hives should look as if there was an 
intelligent owner not far distant who knows that “ a stitch 
in time saves Dine.” There should be no tinsel ornament or 
ostentatious attempt to please the eye at the expense of 
usefulness and profit. No prim tidiness, but simply a forcible 
determined effort to show the soundness of the old saying 
which most of us have heard, “There’s a place for every¬ 
thing, let everything be in its place.”— Felix. 
SYRIAN BEES. 
I HAVE read with great pleasure the very interesting article at pages 
57 and 58 by “ A Hallamshire Bee-keeper.” The Tunisian bees he men¬ 
tions I have had no experience with, but I am sure his ultimate success 
and experience with these bees will be interesting to all bee-keepers, 
and we will hail with delight anything he can tell us about them. His 
third paragraph is to the point. Let those bee-keepers who have 
hitherto failed with these foreign and prolific bees peruse the paragraph 
well, and compare it with the mode of management they have hitherto 
been advised to (and failed in) by those who teach a different mode of 
management. Then they may perhaps find out the reason why their 
foreign bees “ cannot do it.” 
About forty years since a minister was ordained and installed into 
office here. On a rustic being asked what he thought of the new minister 
