THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Decejiber 9. 
193 
] Dortli liave bei'ii mnro liiglily favoni’oJ tlian tlie sontliern 
sist/'7'ho()(ls. Tliougli tlu' spring had boon itnnsiiall}' <lry, 
! many liivos in oavly situations wore ready for swarming tlm 
beginning of .fune, alamt the usiial time in ordinary seasons; 
tlien came throe weeks of chilling rains, when those beo- 
keopei’S (T .am sorry to say they are still numerous), who 
maintain that hoes which cannot supi)ort themselves are 
not worth assisting, lost many of their stocks. Tn some 
hives the imrnl nymphs wei’o destroyed (in common liives 
this symptom of distress cannot well bo ascertained) ; drones 
and larval (a certain sign of starvation) were brought out; 
while in others, without any of these precursors, families 
d0,0l)0 strong ceased to exist. At last, when fine weather 
came, in some apiaries those hives which had received 
timely assistance swarmed with a determination which it 
was impossible to check, and in otlu'rs the design of 
swarming was entirely abandoned. It is often dilllctdt 
to understand tho operations of the bees, from the very 
numerous comliinations and circumstances which afiect 
lb(‘m; in these opposite results T am inclined to think 
that in those families which hail been prejiared to swarm 
two or Ibri'o weeks ]u'eviously, tho queen had at that time 
linished the//nv(//nyhq/, constituting the sw.arms ; in fact, 
a ipiantity (d’ eggs had been probably wasted, and thus, on 
till! return of fine weather, (here was suflioient vacant space 
for llie storing of honey, as well as the deposition of eggs, 
in which, as I )r. 1 Sevan observes, there is usually a relaxa¬ 
tion in .Inly. On this point, I only speak as compared to 
the lu'ior laying, the queen still jiroduoes them in consider¬ 
able quantities, as may be seen by examining tho combs a 
few d.iys after tho swarm has been established, when many 
sipiare inches will be found occupied with brood. Accord¬ 
ing to the statement of Huber, in which Dr. Dunbar co¬ 
incides, the diameter of a worker's cell is two and two-fifth 
line.s, thus one .square inch comprises fifty cells, including 
both sides of the comb. Dr. Devan gives the dimension as 
two and three-fifth lines, which I think will be found the 
most correct measurement, and still affording a wonderful 
jiroof of the economizing of space. 
The letter of Mr. IT. Taylor, for the perusal of which 
tlio readers of The Cottagi'. (I.vrdener are much 
indebted to Mr. P.ayne, suggests suiijects of deep 
thought to the apiarian. On tho conqiarative merits 
of old and yotmg queens, 1 will beg to offer a few 
remarks. As far as 1 am able to judge, moi’e from attentive 
obsi'i'vation than lengthened experience, I am led to tlie 
opinion that a young ipiueti will be, eqitallj’ prolitic from the 
day she begins to lay eggs, pnwiiled all contingencies are 
alike. However, it must be borne in mind, that a young 
queen, est.ablished at the same time, and with as strong a 
colony as an oldnr queen, commences her sway under mttch 
less favottrable circumstances. A week, a fortnight, or even 
longer, elapses before she commences to lay eggs ; and those 
apiarians whose hives enable them to view the whole body 
of bees at once, cannot fail to have been struck with the 
rajiid diminution of their numbers during the working 
season, when there are no young bees to replace those that 
are lost. Then, as in spring, poverty in numbers is the 
parent of poverty. I have seen a queen of two months old, 
IVom Ihis cause, laying her eggs “to mere waste," and have 
counted as many as three .and four in one cell, while others 
were. drii|iped and devoured by the workers. With profound 
res]iect for royalty, I admit having detected a queen con¬ 
descending to deception. 1 found one of my young queens, 
this yeai’, going through tho routine of deyiositing eggs, 
examining the cells first, as is their wont; having reason to 
doubt this fact, I took out the window, and, making a 
minute inspection of the colls, found tliero was not a 
single egg. Next day she began to lay in earnest, but in 
another comb, and within a fortnight honey was stored in 
the cells where she had been slidiiiiiiiiii/. Hut this is a 
digression, and I I'ehirn to lind further proof in favour 
of young queens. We have it on such good authority 
as that of Mr. tlolding, that she has been known to lead 
I otf a swarm a few wiioks after her birth. The second 
siaison in one summer enjoyed by bees near the moors, 
j otfers a full test of her powei'.s. There we find stocks dejio- 
; l)ulated liy swarming, and second swarms labouring under 
I the disadvantages above - mentioned, returning to their 
owners with as largo a population as their elders possess. 
Eor instance, this season a second swann filled a Grecian 
hive, and stored six or eight pounds of honey in a glass; 
while of four hives sent together to the moors, three of 
which were swarms, and one a stock which had swarmed 
twice, the stock came homo decidedly strongest, so full, 
indeed, of bees, that had the season been JMay instead of 
the end of October, 1 shonld have looked for a swarm in a 
few days. Yet I do not imagine a queen deteriorates before 
her third year at soonest; and I am glad to see so ex])eri- 
enceil an apiarian as iMr. Taylor, is of this opinion, as well 
•as Yir. Golding, whose “old lady,” at four years of age, 
sw.armed when slie was dead 1 
This letter is already so long, that tho consideration of 
queenless stocks and drone-laying bees must be deferred tn 
another opportunity, if my pen should be again employed 
in transcribing from notes on bees.— Investigator. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
WnicKLA Rosea ( N . It. E ,), —Surely you must know that the rose 
and tlie vine flower on wood made the si.nie season ; or, in gardener’s 
language, on the current year’s growth, 'J'he difliculty lies in this, 
that both the vine and the rose have been, or may be, pruned as close 
as to the last eye of the young wood, and to any other eye from the 
la.st to the one at the end of ten, twelve, or fourteen feet; therefore, 
they are not very good examples to teach the pruning of other plants 
from. It is a rule that ought not to be slightly broken, that all plants, 
when removed from one jilacc to another, or transplanted, should be 
jiruned in some way or other. Roses, low plants, and shrubs, like 
your beautiful W'eigela, should be cut down to within a few eyes of the 
young wood; and stronger things, as large trees, only to be thinned 
of shoots, or cut according to the extent, the vigour, or the mutilation of 
the roots in the removal. Rut cases do occur, ami yours is one of them, 
where it goes against the grain to fuHil the laws of pruning to the 
letter. For fear of misleading others, we must state your ease before 
we advise you, however. Vou planted your Weigela this autumn, and 
it has from fifteen to twenty shoots rhsing directly from the crown or 
collar of the plant, their average height being three feet. This tells a 
tale. This plant was too large for the space for it, or else it was too 
straggling, and they cut it down to the ground to renew it. The 
shoots are now too numerous for a plant not transplanted ; and one 
that has been lately removed must have about one-half of these shoots 
—the weakest ones—cut in from three to six inches in length ; then take 
three of the strongest shoot.s, not cut, in your left hand, and cut otf five 
or six inches from the jioints—then let them go; now, with your eye, 
measure the he^t dista7ices between the top cuts and the bottom cuts, 
for cutting back the remainder of the slioots at ditferent distances, 
(live the plant a good watering in April, three in May, and four in .lune 
—three or four gallons each time—and let us hear next August how it 
looks, &c., &c. In another year you will cut out all the very weak 
shoots and as much of the older wood as will keep the head regular, and 
the young shoots you will cut back, some to one-half their length, and 
some to one-third. 
SiiAUEn Rokuer {U. A.). —What will grow on a flve-fect-wide-border 
sloping a little to the north-west, and shaded with high laurels that may 
be cut down considerably ? This question admits of many answers, yet 
none of them might he to your liking. Tel! us what you would like there. 
Pruning Standard China Roses (.1. J . F.)- — It is not easy to 
answer about the ])runing of monthly China Roses that are now strag¬ 
gling. The smallest Roses known are among the monthly Roses, and 
the very strongest also, as Indira major, .and every degree of strength 
between these extreme points are also found in monthlies. Now, we all 
know that these, and every other Rose, will get straggling in time, 
unless they are attended to; but about the pruning of monthlies, without 
knowing what kind of monthly they are, is more than is safe to under¬ 
take honestly, without writing an essay to include all the possible shades 
of jiruning. In a general way, very strong Roses must not be iiruned at 
all on standards ; that is to say, not much shortened ; whole shoots cut 
out entirely, to leave more room for others, is the rule ; standards, not 
very strong, may be jiruned according to the degree of strength, without 
reference to what section they may belong to ; and weak-growing standards 
must be pruned close, under any circumstances, 
Trop.eolum tricolouum {Michel). —There is nothing unusual in 
your plant starting vigorously and making as yet /eie le.aves. Vou will 
have plenty by-and-by; the'symptoms arc i/hiVc /iromi.sin/'.^ Do not 
give too much water in this dull w^eather. I.et the pots be tilled with 
roots before you soak the soil freely. 
Pleroma ei.egans (/Aid).—How and when to propagate ? In early 
sjiring, take otf the points of half-ripened shoots ; or, better still, select 
some shrubby side-slioots from two to three inches long ; cut them across 
at a joint, and remove one or two tiers of the low'er leaves ; then plant 
them firmly in silver-sand, over sandy-])cat, well-drained; water; allow' 
to drain, and the tops to dry; then place over them a bell-glass, and 
plunge the pot in a sweet, mild, hottom-lieat. After a few days, lilt the 
corner of the glass at night, to prevent damping and to ailmit fresh air, 
and re|dace the glass firmly again in the morning, shading as much during 
the day as will iirevent the'shoots flagging, and no more. 
Watsonia I'Ui.GinA (TroKAic.vunie).—This growing in the border, 
may be left there with the jirotection of a hand-light; but we thinif 
you would he better pleased with the blooms if you lilted it carefully, 
potted it, and kept it in a cold pit during winter. 
liiGNONiA RAIIICANS MAJOR {Ihid). —The pot of this has been 
cracked, and then inserted in a deep, rich border, but the plant has not 
grown more than twelve inches since May. Examine the roots ; remove 
at least part, if not most of the pot; and trace out the roots with the 
hand, and give them a little sandy-loam and peat, or leaf mould, 
to ramify in at first, and you will, most likely, have growth etiimgh 
next year. 
