THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
165 
June 30.] 
of streams, the Water Elder is also in flower, the Viburnum 
Opulus of botanists, the Guelder Rose of our Gardens. 
In our paper on the floral wildlings of May, we referred to 
the numerous tribe of native Orchids, some of which were 
then in flower; but we deferred any remarks upon them till 
the present occasion. Many of them are now in full bloom, 
and although they do not aspire to the truly remarkable 
forms and gaudy colouring of their brethren in the tropical 
forests, yet there are many of them very conspicuous objects 
in om native Flora. The following are the species in flower 
during the month of June :—Green-winged Meadow Orchis 
( Orchis Morio), Early Purple Orchis (O. mascula), Lax-flow¬ 
ered Orchis (O laxiflora) —a Jersey and Guernsey plant; 
Dark-winged Orchis (O. ustulata), Marsh Orchis ( O. lati- 
folia )—sometimes found with white flowers; Spotted Palmate 
Orchis ( O. maculata), Fragrant Gymnadenia ( Gymnadenia 
conopsea), Green Habenaria ( Habenaria viridis), White Habe- 
naria (II. albida), Butterfly Habenaiia (H. bifolia), Green 
Man-Orchis ( Aceras anthropophora), Green Musk-Orchis 
( Herminium monorchis), Spider Ophrys (Ophrys arachnites), 
Fly Ophrys ( Ophrys muscifera), Lady’s Slipper ( Cypripedium 
Calceolus). The last-mentioned, besides being one of the 
rarest and loveliest of native orchids, is one of the most in¬ 
teresting of our native plants. Many of the species derive 
their names from their remarkable resemblance to members 
of the insect creation, as will be observed by a glance at the 
above list of species now in flower; but appropriate as some 
of these names are, we fail to admire their aptness in such 
cases as that of Accras anthropophora, where the tiny flower 
known under that name bears as much resemblance to a 
man as it does to a mammoth, a mole, or a mountain.— 
G. Lawson. 
(To be continued.) 
HISTORY OF AN APIARY. 
No. 4. 
(Continued from page 40.) 
Your readers were informed in my last paper of the suc¬ 
cessful transfer of my bees to their new dwelling, of which 
they occupied the upper story. I longed to see them in 
their proper place, but after what had happened I really had 
not the heart to disturb them again, so they were left to 
their own devices. To my infinite delight, however, on the 
third morning I discovered that they had spontaneously 
descended in a body to tbe “ pavilion," not a bee being left 
in the cover; doubtless they had found the inconvenience of 
climbing to an attic so high and so remote from the entrance. 
11 was certainly an act of deliberate choice which indicated 
a wonderful instinct and sagacity, for they abandoned a 
beautiful piece of comb in which they had already stored 
honey. This I took from them, and deposited in my small 
museum as the first-fruits of future spoils, after I had care¬ 
fully closed the communication between the pavilion and the 
box. Now I had no alloy to my satisfaction on account of 
the success of my experiment so far; and, as with a liberal 
hand I supplied the bees from day to day with honey, and 
beer and sugar, everything went on prosperously up to the 
time of my return to Oxford about the middle of October. 
I left them with about eight combs, filling nearly half the 
box, the construction of which I had watched with great interest 
through the back window; my observations being facilitated by 
the help of a small hand-glass, which I held in such a 
manner as to reflect a strong light into the interior of the hive. 
The honey with which I supplied them was partly furnished 
from the surviving stores of the old hive; these were, indeed, 
miserably small, not exceeding a pint and a half in all. A 
very great consumption no doubt had taken place during the 
three days excitement consequent on our repeated attempts 
to dislodge the bees, yet there must originally have been too 
little to stand them in provision through the coming winter, 
so that they must have perished -without copious feeding; 
this thought consoled me much afterwards. 
Previously to my return to Oxford I added one or two other 
colonies to my apiary, upon each of which I experimented 
with the most sanguine zeal. The discovered poverty of 
my own stock led me to conjecture that my neighbours’ bees 
were probably in no better condition than my own, and to 
hope that, being transferred to my care, I might save them, 
while amusing myself as well. Going round the village, 
therefore, I persuaded a bee-master who resided close at 
hand to give up to me the lightest of his hives; it was ac¬ 
cordingly transferred to my garden, and so late as the 6th of 
September its occupants were driven as before into a straw 
hive with a wooden top, constructed after Mr. Cotton’s plan, 
as recommended in his “ Letter to Cottagers.” It was, 
unfortunately, a great deal too large, being calculated to 
accommodate a first-rate May swarm. On this occasion the 
operation of driving was very speedily accomplished; within 
an hour from the commencement of the operation, which 
was performed by broad daylight, at 6 o’clock in the morning, 
the bees were on their stand, and the old hive broken up 
and destroyed; not lialf-a-pint of honey was discovered in it, 
though there were plenty of bees ! At this time I committed 
a grievous mistake in moving my first hive to another part 
of the garden and locating the new hive in its place, as there 
was much fighting for many days between the new comers 
and the old “ habitans,” who revisited their former well- 
known quarters, which greatly weakened my hives, at a time 
when not a labourer could be spared. Apparently, however, 
all went on well—I had yet to learn by experience. Looking 
into this hive from the bottom on the 11th, just five days 
after, a beautiful piece of comb disengaged itself from the 
roof and fell down ; it measured full five inches in depth, 
and was weighty with honey. The damage, however, was 
soon repaired, and by the 12th of October they had formed 
six combs of various sizes stretching across the top of the 
hive. 
On the lltli I procured another hive from a second 
neighbour. It was a July cast, and was in a miserable con¬ 
dition ; there were several drones in it, no queen, and a mere 
cupful of workers,—of course I could do nothing with these. 
About this time a lady-friend of mine, hearing of my 
successful experiments, desired me to procure for her a 
colony to a single box-hive which had been presented to her 
some time before. In obedience to her wishes I purchased 
a fine populous stock on the 17th of the same-month, and 
drove it the next day. This hive was located in the window 
of an empty room, where I had the opportunity of watching 
them at all seasons and supplying them liberally with food. 
By October 12th they had constructed and stored five combs, 
but I was in fear for them. On one occasion on opening 
the drawer of this hive, to give a fresh supply of honey (all 
my hives had feeding drawers at the bottom at this time, but 
I have since discarded them altogether, preferring top-feed¬ 
ing), I perceived, to my great joy, that the queen had got 
imprisoned and was in my power; I quickly siezed her, with 
two or three of her subjects, and put them under a tumbler, 
where I inspected her, and showed her to several people. 
The behaviour of the bees to their queen was most attentive 
and respectful. At the end of nearly an hour I returned her 
to the hive, pushing her in at the mouth, when she was 
quickly surrounded and drawn in by a vast concourse of her 
subjects. 
It only remains forme to give the result of my first year's 
experience as a bee-keeper. No one could doubt the issue 
of my foolish experiments,—foolish, not in themselves, but 
because of the lateness of the season. They all perished of 
hunger, one after the other; not a bee being found alive after 
March, nor a particle of food in the cells. The longest to 
survive was the first colony, who lived till the middle of that 
month, and was cut off by a frost at last. After my return 
to Oxford I found that no care was taken of them, no food, 
or very little, supplied, and my favourites perished in con¬ 
sequence.—A Country Curate. 
DESTROYING THE RED SPIDER. 
I am induced to give you my plan of attempting to get rid 
of that pest, the red spider, which no doubt many of your 
readers are troubled with. I see recommended, to dust 
with flour of sulphur; this I have found of no- avail. I took 
a leaf with a couple of the marauders on, and put it under a 
strong magnifying glass ; I then saw them very busy spinning 
a web, under which were numerous eggs, along the main 
fibre of the leaf. I then dusted them over with sulphur, and 
two hours afterwards they were still lively, therefore I think 
this would be of no avail, as, if noxious to the^m, they would 
naturally crawl to another leaf. I have, therefore, found the 
best plan, either to wash each leaf with a sponge, or use a 
brush (for instance, a fine-haired tooth-brush); this is a 
