460 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
November 15, 1894, 
side, as well as the spit below ; then break up the bottom, and if very 
stiff and clayey remove some of the worst and fill up with better material. 
Soil from the vegetable garden might be employed, mixing in some short 
manure, road scrapings, and mortar rubbish. A layer of the latter is 
useful to place over a course of drainage material if such is needed. 
Keturn the surface spits, adding to them turfy loam. If the stations 
thus prepared are left higher than the surrounding grass it will not 
matter. Drive a strong stake into the centre and plant the tree against 
that, securing it firmly with ligatures that do not cut the bark. In 
planting spread the roots out carefully, pruning damaged ends, if any, 
and see that the stem is not buried deeper than before. Standard trees 
are the best for orchards, planting 24 to 30 feet asunder. Mulch the 
surface with short manure, not returning the grass until the trees are 
fully established. 
Planting- Small Fruits. —Gooseberries, Raspberries, and Currants 
require richer soil in the first instance than is accorded to other fruit 
trees in the early stages. Trench as deeply as possible, turning in abun¬ 
dance of rich material, consisting of decayed manure, old turf and vege¬ 
table compost. Raspberries may be planted in lines or clumps, the 
former 5 feet apart and the latter 3 feet between, in rows 5 feet or 6 feet 
asunder. Gooseberries and Currants are quite close enough 5 feet 
apart, this giving room for cultural operations and ease in gathering the 
crops. 
HE 
BEE-KEEPER. 
APIARIAN NOTES. 
Hives during the Winter and Spring. 
In order that the bees may not be subjected to fits and starts 
of breeding, then suddenly discontinuing it or “ drawing ” their 
brood, the hives should be kept at a uniform degree of temperature, 
and so protected that neither external heat nor cold affects the 
interior. No alteration of the covering or protecting material of 
the hive on any pretext whatever should be made, while the 
entrance to the hive ought also to be rigidly maintained at the 
same width. A strong hive progresses well with an inch to 
inch wide entrance, and should only be made wide when the 
hive is swelling and the spring is well advanced. A wide entrance 
admits damp from the outside and cools and condenses the per¬ 
spiration from the bees upon the combs, causing mouldiness, 
making unsealed stores watery and sour. When kept cosy the 
bees are more comfortable, and are better able to withstand 
inclement seasons. 
The material hives should be made from is a question on which 
bee-keepers differ greatly, and whether wooden hives ought to be 
painted. It is a mistake to do more than colour the outside of a 
soft porous wood, but by painting the inside as well as the outside 
we have a lasting hive, because little or no damp penetrates it. 
Double cased hives should have the outer shell thoroughly painted 
in and outside, and the inner one (moveable) may be painted, or 
left otherwise if a proper floor is provided. Where the old- 
fashioned solid floors are in use it is not advisable to paint, so that the 
perspiration can pass through the thin inner shell, the condensed 
moisture escaping between the two. Damp floors cause more 
deaths amongst bees than all the other ills put together, and is I 
believe conducive to incipient foul brood.—A Lanarkshire 
Bee-keeper. 
QUEEN REARING. 
To rear healthy long-lived queens should be the aim of all bee 
keepers, for unless a colony is headed by a fertile qiieen it will 
result in failure, and having for several years past tried various 
experiments in this important matter, the experience so gained may 
be of benefit to other bee-keepers. In the first place it may be 
stated that I work my hives on the non swarming system, and 
endeavour to have a good harvest of honey, and not an increase in 
stocks. If the bees are not allowed to swarm, and no system of 
queen rearing had been carried out, the colonies would in time 
collapse, as the queen would eventually die. All my hives are 
numbered, and are entered in a small book that is carried in the 
pocket for that purpose. Against each number is placed the age of 
the queen and any other remarks for future guidance, and at the 
end of the season a note of which stocks have done the best. 
I found for several seasons that one stock had invariably done 
better than any other. From this stock I requeened upwards of 
twenty colonies, which have turned out a good hardy race of bees, 
though where there are a number of stocks kept some will always 
come out stronger than others in the spring. 
The proper time to rear queens is at their natural swarming 
season. Should a stock by chance swarm a number of good queens 
can be obtained with very little trouble, and if the queen is an old 
one kill her and return the bees to their old stock. In a few days 
divide the stock into as many nuclei as there are queen cells, adding 
frames of comb or foundation for the bees to cluster on, distributing 
the bees evenly amongst them. The young queens will hatch out, 
and if the weather is fine will be fertilised and laying in less than 
three weeks from the time the stock swarmed. If no swarming 
takes place select a colony whose queen is in her second or third 
year and kill her, then make some holes through the brood combs 
and notch them along the bottom, from which a number of queen 
cells will be started. If only a few are required the combs need 
not be interfered with. The young queens will be hatched out in 
about sixteen days. This stock should be divided as above stated 
after swarming, and the young queens will be laying in about ten 
days. These can then be introduced to stocks that have old or 
inferior queens by killing them off and giving the young queens at 
once. There will then be no loss of brood, as a good fertile queen 
will at that time of the year lay about 3000 eggs daily. If more 
queens are raised than are required for requeening stocks they will 
be useful in case of accident, or for making an extra stock. In 
some of my best colonies the queens are in their third year. These 
stocks will be requeened next year, but it is not advisable to keep a 
queen more than two years unless she is a very good one. 
Queens reared late in the season often die during the winter or 
the following spring. I tried an experiment this year to raise a 
queen after the honey flow was over early in July, feeding the 
stock until the queen had filled several combs with brood. In 
August it was fed with my other stocks for the winter. At the end 
cf October this hive was queenless ; the same thing has happened 
before, either in the autumn or early in the spring, whereas 
upwards of twenty queens reared in June are all doing well. On 
March 16th this year I found a two-year-old queen nearly dead on 
the alighting board of one of my hives. I removed her, and 
instead of uniting the bees to another stock thought I would see 
how early I could obtain a young queen fertilised. In due course 
a queen was hatched, also some drones, and to keep up the strength 
of hive, a frame of brood from some of my other stocks was 
given every four or five days. This queen was disposed in about 
three weeks ; another one hatched out, and failed to get fertilised ; 
the third one was more successful, and was laying early in June. 
If from any cause a stock should be queenless from now till next 
May, it is better to unite the remaining bees to another stock. If 
not they will gradually dwindle away, and the stronger stock will 
rob the hive of its stores.— An English Bee-keeper. 
* 5 * 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 
uniustifiable 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 communications. 
Ctarysanttaemum Vlvland Morel (F. R, II .'),—The bronze 
yellow flower is identical with Charles Davis, a sport from Viviand 
Morel, and a useful variety. 
Pears for ZTovember and December {II. T. H ).—Two larg^e 
varieties are Doyennd du Comice and Beurr^ d’Anjou ; medium sized. 
Winter Nelis and Josephine de Malines. 
Tbe Burr Knott and Pebblestone Pippin Apples 
{C., Downpatrick )—We are unable to inform you where these varieties 
are procurable. If information reaches us on the subject we will 
forward it to you. 
Cbrysantbemum Books {A Beginner ).—As you can obtain both 
Mr. Molyneux’s and Mr. Iggulden’s manuals from this office by post for 
Is. 8^d., we advise you to read them attentively. They will not lead you 
astray. We do not know where you can get better value for money than 
in these practical treatises. 
Insecticides {D, A .).—We do not think the kinds you mention 
have been advertised in our columns, and we have not tried them, 
