386 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
t May 12, 1887. 
bees began to come back, and they came from all directions. After 
a good number had entered the hive I let the queen run in also, and 
the stock continued to prosper. Had I not been near this stock 
would have proved queenless, as she could not have reached the hive 
without flying, which she was too heavy to do. I have several times 
in my younger days seen bees come out in a similar manner, and the 
stock always became extinct after. In the cases of the three I have 
lost this spring, every one was breeding very late last year ; each had 
brood to hatch November 1st. Therefore my opinion is that the 
bees took an airing flight en masse during one of the fine days, and 
the queens going with them in the excitement were unable to get 
back. I believe queens are also lost in passing from one side of the 
comb to the other (either round bottom or ends) to deposit eggs, 
and get chilled to death ; but in these cases I had cut passage ways 
to guard against such probable loss. Each of my queens left traces 
of having been alive and well this spring. In one strong lot I 
discovered in March six queen cells unsealed, as well as sealed and 
unsealed brood, from which I removed the larvae. This gave me a 
stock in exact condition to receive a queen in accordance with my 
law of direct queen introduction. Finding another stock a week 
or two after to have dwindled a little during the winter, I decided 
to unite them to another and give the queen to the queenless stock. 
After I published this “law” last year in this Journal it was 
ridiculed in the British Bee Journal by Dr. Walker and others, and 
had it not been for an unfortunate statement by the Rev. George 
Raynor in his able paper on queen introduction—which he has since 
frankly declared bad no reference to my “ law,’’ though everyone 
thought it had—-I believe its truth and value to bee-keepers would 
have been firmly established by British bee-masters. Mr. W. B. 
Webster, in the British Bee Journal tor January (5th, page 10, speak¬ 
ing of it says, “ it is sound and practicable, but Simmins’ ( i.e ., Pond’s) 
is better, not in its efficiency, but in its simplicity. I have had 
considerable experience in both during the last season and have been 
eminently successful with each. But who would go to the trouble 
in the middle of the season to deprive a stock of every means of 
raising a new mother, when by simply keeping your fresh queen by 
itself for half an hour (after dark at night, mind) the thing is 
done ? As to the success of each, they are about equal, neither is 
infallible, but both are near enough to be considered a great success.” 
This is by an apiarist who stands high amongst British bee-keepers, 
and though he and several others stated in the fall they had tried it 
without a single failure, I do not question his honesty in the least 
in the above extract; but I must say I Consider he has not thoroughly 
grasped its value and advantages. It is a piece of knowledge to be 
used with advantage just at such times and conditions that it may 
be applied. For instance, we can rear queens in February and 
March, but who would be insane enough to do so ? or if a stock is 
found queenless in winter, spring, summer, or autumn, with no 
means of rearing a queen, which is the quickest done, give a queen 
without a moment’s loss of time, or wait till dark when it is cool, 
then keep the queen half an hour by herself, then take a lamp and 
drop her in under the quilt ? You run a risk of chilling your queen 
and you might have otlier busmess td attend to every night. One 
bee-master i see uses bottles of hot water to keep the queen warm. 
I am not going to run Pond’s or Simmins-Pond’s system down, 
because I can well understand the principle on which it works— 
viz., the bees are deceived, as explained by Mr. Pond, in believing it 
is their own queen come back, and he further explains that it is the 
movements and behaviour of the queens themselves which cause 
the bees to encase them. 
It has been laid down by all authorities that it is next to impos¬ 
sible to enthrone an alien virgin queen several days old in a normal 
queenless stock, though no difficulty is found with one only just 
hatched. Now, if Mr. Webster will prepare a stock in accordance 
with my “ law ” to receive a fertile queen, but instead of a fertile 
one give them a virgin one at the top, as near the centre of the 
cluster as possible, he must do it in the daytime, so that he can 
watch the entrance, for in a very short time she will be seen to run 
out of the hive. Here the bees let her alone, and though they are 
actually begging her to stop she will not, because she is frightened, 
and had the bees not been in that condition they would have killed 
her. Cage this virgin queen in a pipe cover cage on some food for 
two days, and she will remain when set at liberty. A few experi¬ 
ments with virgin queens in connection with my “ law ” will shed 
much light on Pond’s system, which under certain circumstances 
and conditions is much better than mine—that is, if you do not 
want to be absolutely certain of success, but let us consider its 
value.—A Hallamshire Bee-keeper. 
(To be continued.) 
PERFORATED ZINC FLOORS. 
I followed the advice of “ A Lanarkshire Bec-lceeper ” last year 
in putting perforated zinc as a floor for three of my hives. The whole 
floor is covered, and its sides are like a bird cage drawer, pulling out at 
the back. Below is another drawer with a wooden bottom. I have this 
filled with dry peat. I drew out the drawers a few days ago. One hive 
had half a teacup full of dry debris, and perhaps a dozen dead bees 
among it. The other two hives were quite clean on the perforated zinc, 
and had each half a dozen dead bees. There was a good deal of debris, 
powder, and cell bottoms, &c., which had got through the perforated 
zinc on to the peat. I send you a bit of the zinc. It has as large holes 
as it well can have so as to prevent bees getting through. The bees are 
strong. I have not yet examined them above, but all are bringing in a 
good deal of pollen. I consider the change very satisfactory.—F. M. 
0 ,j° 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 un¬ 
avoidably. We request that no one will write privately 
to any of our correspondents, as doing so subjects them to 
unjustifiable trouble and expense. 
Mushrooms in Cucumber Frames (.4. D .).—We have had excellent 
Mushrooms in Cucumber and Melon frames by inserting spawn in the beds 
towards the’ end of summer, when it is not necessary to apply water so 
copiously to the plants as early in the season. This method is specially 
referred to in Wright’s “ Mushrooms for the Million,” the fifth edition of 
which will shortly be issued. 
Seedling Auricula (■/. Luck). — The moss in which the flowers 
were packed was not damp enough, and they arrived quite flaccid and 
partly curled. We cannot thus judge of the substance of the self. The 
colour is rich, purplish violet, but the paste is not dense; it is perhaps 
weakened by withering. You should grow a plant well and get it “in” 
for one of the shows. , The other flower is inferior; we do not know its 
name, and in its present form scarcely think it is worthy of a name. 
Eucharis Mite ( R. It.). —This destructive mite attacks other bulbs 
also. A correspondent some time ago sent us leaves of Eucharises from 
plants from which he had banished the enemy with a preparation he had 
found safe and effectual. He intimated his intention to advertise his mite- 
killer, but we do not know whether he did so or not, and we cannot remem¬ 
ber his address or we would send it to you. Since the foregoing was in 
type we have received your second letter and bulb, which shall be carefully 
examined. 
Tomatoes Dying (G. M .).—We regret our inability to satisfactorily 
account for the collapse of your plants. The “ small lumps ” on the stems 
we consider are incipient root*, and assumng that the atmosphere is not 
excessively moist, they suggest an attempt on the part of the plants to 
gather the suppo t they need from the air that they cannot find in the 
soil. It appears evident that either the soil or the atmosphere a v e unsuit¬ 
able for the well being of the plants, as we fail to observe that the disease 
is of fungoid origin. 
Primroses and Polyanthuses (It. TV. Beachey). —The flowers you send 
are very good indeed, some of them, notably the large white and coloured 
hose-in-hose varieties, very superior. The crimsons are rich in colour, 
though not marked advances on others, the pale blue and silver very 
attractive; but those of which Naval Brigade is a type are not equal to 
some varieties for w-liich Mr. Gr. F. Wilson has been awarded first-class 
certificates. You should submit y r our best forms to the Floral Committee 
of the Royal Horticultural Society. 
Single and Double Violet ( Cambridge ).—The “best” of anything is 
very much a question of taste. The single Violet Wellsiana is excellent, 
and as a double the variety of Neapolitan known as De Panne is one of the 
best. The double white Neapolitan (syn. Count Brazzi’s Neapolitan), 
Swanley White : and Rawson’s Single White are worthy of yourattention. 
As to the silver-leaved Zonal Pelargoniums with white flowers, you should 
try and grow Mont Blanc better. We have seen it in good form, and you 
might also try Variegated White Clipper. They are both good when well 
cultivated. 
Mushrooms (TV . Kidd). —The “ clump ” is remarkable for the number 
of small Mushrooms it contains; they appear as if piled one on the other, 
and we cannot spare the time to count them. If the entire bed is similarly 
c'vered, or we might say encrusted, we should think it necessary or advis¬ 
able to scoop some of them out with a knife to enable those surrounding to 
develope, a-t in the struggle for existence the great majority must fail to 
attain any useful size. No apology is needed for sending them; on the 
contrary, we are obliged by your bringing such an extraordinary cluster 
before us. 
Vine Growths Fasciated (I, D .).—The shoots are what are termed 
fasciated, the apex of growth having from some unknown cause become 
broken or divided, resulting in an aggregation of shoots united in one stem. 
If this is the first year the Vine has produced such shoots it may be acci¬ 
dental rather than const tutional, and next year the flattened stems may 
not appear. We have known, however, a Vine to produce such growths 
yearly, and it had to be destroyed. You will not err by relyiog as far as 
possible on the round laterals for pruning, or rather for bearing another 
year. An excess of vigour appears to conduce to the malformation. You 
give no particulars about the Vine nor the border in which it is growing. 
