February 19. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
325 
i 
Wych-elm, which the bees seem to delight in much. The 
Willow tribe come next into blossom, and last a consider¬ 
able time; the last in blossom of this sort, a full month 
later, is the Common or Dutch Osier, to be seen in every 
part of England, the catkin of which is very small. The 
next flowers for the bees, are the Gooseberries, Currants, and 
the little Yellow Pilewort in the hedge-rows. The Ribes or 
lled-blossom Currant, is also a good bee-flower in April. It 
is a common shrub in most of the gardens in England. I 
have at least a hundred. The Dandelion is rather a favourite; 
the Sycamore and Maple (in May) are excellent bee-flowers ; j 
and the Peach, Nectarine, and Plum, then the early Pears, 
and afterwards the whole tribe of Apples, late Pears, 
Cherries, are all favourable in their season to the bees, in 
the spring. I cannot say much for the Cowslip, for I do not 
know a flower, except the Primrose, so little noticed by bees. 
Those who have the power and opportunity ought to en¬ 
courage, as much as possible, the growth of bee flowers and 
trees. The planter, for instance, should not forget to have 
a few Limes, Variegated Sycamores, Maple, and Alder, inter¬ 
spersed in every batch of trees. The Lime is a long time 
yielding its blossom; I have some trees of twenty years’ 
growth which have never yielded any yet. Nothing is more 
delightful than to sit under the shade of a large Lime tree, 
and hear the hum of the bees. One of the wild species, the 
Apis terrestris, is very fond of the lime, and will remain fre¬ 
quently on the intoxicating blossom until too dark to return 
to its nest. 
I will now furnish my readers with a list of my own 
favourite garden bee-flowers, and, at the same time, inform 
them that I have an acre of ground devoted to bee-flowers, 
shrubs, and trees, near my house, Tliornbury Park, Glouces¬ 
tershire. These, in their order of blooming, are—the Crocus; 
Erica carnea, in blossom in March; Ribes, or Gooseberry, 
April; Canterbury Bells; Mignonette; Stacliys lanata, a 
splendid bee-flower; Veronica, another good bee-flower; 
Borage, sown in June and July, also excellent; Viper’s 
Bugloss ; French pink Willow flowers ; Thyme, both Lemon 
and common ; and Salvia nova, a first-rate bee-flower. The 
Stachys lanata, or Woolly-leaved Nettle, is an excellent pas¬ 
ture, and lasts full six weeks; the Veronica about the same 
time; last, but not least, in the garden, is the late-sown 
Borage, which Mr. Keys calls the “ King of Flowers.” This 
flower I always sow in June or July; it then produces a 
fine blossom in September or October, when the other blos¬ 
soms are gone. Mignonette should also be sown late for j 
the same purpose. 
I have lately got some plants of the Salvia Nova; it has a 
beautiful puce-coloured blossom, and lasts a couple of 
months; it is a most beautiful flower, and I have noticed 
more bees, in a small compass, on this flower, than on any 
other. Its time of blooming is from the end of June to the 
beginning of September. I am indebted to my friend, Mr. 
Mayes, of Clifton Nursery, White Ladies’ Gate, for this 
plant. The first I noticed were in his nursery, but it does 
not increase very rapidly. 
The country round me is mostly a grass country, and, 
after the mowing season, the flowers are very scarce, and 
as there is no wild heath, as in some parts of Hampshire, for 
autumnal pasture, I am obliged to sow some late flowers. 
Other bee-flowers, shrubs, and trees, not already noticed, 
are the following. The most excellent are printed in italics. 
Almond-trees, Ribes, Laurels, Laurestina, Plum-trees, 
Wall-flowers, Apricots, White-thorn, Black-thorn, Valerian, 
Blackberries, Beans, Asparagus, Buck wheat, Sycamore-trees, 
Maple trees, Alder-trees, Norway Maple, Marsh Mallow 
(Althea officinalis), Turnips, Rape, Mustard, Tares, Broom, 
Teazles, and, last of all, the Ivy, which in October affords 
a good deal of farina to the bees, “ weather permitting,” as 
the fox-liunters say. 
Buck wheat is a good blossom, and generally a late one. 
In the year 1810, when travelling in Belgium in very hot 
weather in August, the late-sown Buck-wheat, of which every 
third or fourth field had a crop, seemed to me the only 
pasture the bees had, as the rest of the country was burnt 
up by the hot weather. 
Honey-dew, that extraordinary exudation, in dry, hot 
summers especially, has more efficacy than all the blossoms 
enumerated. One week of real honey-dew is equal to a month 
of the finest bee pasture from any flowers whatever. It is 
clearly often a simple moist substance exuding from the 
leaves of the oak, lime, blackberry, laurel, &c., and also j 
from the body of a small insect of the Aphis tribe. Certain 
it is, that in dry, hot weather, when the flowers are burnt 1 
and dried up, the bees collect an immense store from this | 
source. 
Dr. Bevan, in his excellent and most scientific work “The 
Honey-Bee,” recommends orange and lemon blossoms. They 
may be very good, but I strongly deprecate any greenhouse 
plants. My reason is, that large greenhouses are very 
destructive to bees, which find their way into them, and are 
lost—flying to the windows, and there dying of exhaustion 
in great numbers. 
In a country bare of bee pasture, care should be taken 
not to over-stock it—a very common error, Avhich generally 
cures itself. 
The uncertainty of our climate renders bee-keeping a 
most precarious remuneration. I may venture to say that 
the unfavourable summers of 1837, 8, 9, -10, and 41, caused 
| the death of two-thirds of the bees throughout England. 
; In 1842 (a splendid bee year), some of the loss was made 
| up. I think the average is not more than one good season 
in four. 
“ FROM MY JOURNAL. 
“ Winchester, July 12, 1844. 
“At seven p.m., very showery, I observed the bees 
hastening backwards and forwards at this late hour towards 
the upper part of the town, mostly where they were kept; 1 
found afterwards they were going to and fro from the beau¬ 
tiful Lime trees, near the Cathedral. It is quite astonishing 
what wind and rain they encountered to get at these de- j 
licious blossoms. The neighbourhood of this city, a corn 
country, abounds with bees, indeed, the greatest part of 
Hampshire does; and they have a considerable share of 
Heath about the New Forest.” 
I will conclude the remarks on bee pasture, by noticing 
the great value of evergreen plantations to bees. Laurels, 
and several other of the evergreens, afford an exudation for 
the bees for five months ; indeed, from April to October, the 
bees are never away from them. 
Besides the shrubs and trees mentioned, there are many 
not enumerated, which are of great use to the bees. I must 
again mention the Norway Maple, which blossoms in April, 
and yields a good pasture to the bees. It is a new acquaint¬ 
ance to me, and independently of its blossoms, the tree 
forms a beautifully ornamental one in plantations, from the 
varied colour of its leaves in spring and autumn. 
From the middle of May to the middle of June, bee 
pasture is in all its vigour. 
(To be continued.) 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
*** We request that no one will write to the departmental writers of 
Tue Cottage Gardener. It gives them, unjustifiable trouble and 
expense. All communications should be addressed “ To the Editor of 
the Cottage Gardener, 2, Amen Corner, Paternoster Row, London. 
Calystegia fubescens, &c.—This plant, as well as Rhyncosperinum 
jasminoides, and Cineraria maritime, we are informed may be had of 
Mr. W. J. Epps, Bower Nurseries, Maidstone. 
Poultry-breeding. —No Prize-fighter had better publish his wishes 
in the form of an advertisement. 
Tiie Morchella (or Morel) is one of the most valuable of fungi for 
cooking purposes, its flavour being much esteemed for sauces. It is 
rather difficult to find, as it does not grow very commonly in this country, 
but is chiefly found in France and Germany. I have always found it in 
greater abundance where the ground is dry and not much disturbed, in 
the vicinity of elm trees, more particularly under old than young trees. I 
used to find it on a dry bank, beneath a row of large elms, in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Guildford. When Morels make their appearance in the 
spring, they should be collected, and hung on a string until they are 
dried, as they are found preferable when used in a dried state than when 
fresh. They should be gathered as soon as they attain their full size, 
being liable to get dirty and infested with insects.— Wm. Moore, Chelsea. 
Oleander Buds Shrivelling (J . N., Omagh). -If you had shifted 
them the previous August, instead of in April, we have no doubt your 
bloom would have opened in July, more especially if you had nipped in, 
or removed the young shoots from the base of the flower-stalk. The de¬ 
caying of these young shoots at their base, from the decay of the flower- 
stalk, is not common, and it is still more uncommon to see these young 
shoots having flower-buds ; we suspect it is owing to the abortivencss of 
the first flower-stalk. Iiy consulting Mr. Fish’s article to-day, you w ill 
sec in what little matters there is room for change, and also that by cut¬ 
ting down your plant you may grow it on, and make cuttings of the > 
