THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Ill 
May 
into requisition. And, thirdly, T may add, it is one 
of the most agreeable things to walk on that can he 
imagined; it is beautifully springy and always dry. 
Mine has been made about three weeks, and is well 
settled with the recent rains; it has had heavy bar- 
rows frequently wheeled over it, and promises to an¬ 
swer remarkably well. As it requires some little pains 
bestowed upon it to make it well in the first instance, 
1 will describe the method I adopted, leaving others 
to improve upon it if they can. The peat I pro¬ 
cured was from a space of ground from which the 
common furze had been cut, the natural soil being a 
light sandy heath or peat mould. As near as cir¬ 
cumstances permitted me, (which were rather awk¬ 
ward ones, as the old tough roots of the furze must 
be avoided as much as possible,) I cut my peat as I 
would flag for a lawn, only rather thicker and much 
wider; but the thickness and width will, of course, 
depend upon the particular circumstances of each 
case. I made the ground or path, upon which the 
peat was intended to be laid, as even as I could, and 
then laid the Hag's root upwards, and fitted them to¬ 
gether upon the path as closely as possible, making 
the edges lit exactly. I then rammed the path down 
with a blunt rammer or cudgel, the thick end of this 
weapon being not more than four or five inches in 
diameter; this process over, it will be found that, as 
some of the peat is weaker in places than at others, 
which can only be tested thoroughly by the rammer, 
it becomes necessary to lift up gently the flags in 
which the weak places exist, and tuck some bits of 
sod or peat under them, and then lay them down 
again, and ram again as before. It will be found that 
nearly all the flag will thus have to be relifted, if the 
kind of peat is used which I describe, as some of it 
will be found to be pulverizing into decay; and the 
roots of the furze, moreover, prevent you getting it 
up so evenly as you otherwise might. Unless proper 
care be taken in the first laying down, I can imagine 
that disappointment would follow; proper fitting, and 
light, not violent, ramming being the only security 
against the turves kicking up in all directions; for it 
will be remembered that the roots are upwards, not 
downwards, and therefore you get no help from them. 
I had nearly forgotten to observe—that which, how¬ 
ever, will be apparent to every one—that it is neces¬ 
sary that the surface of the paths, before the peat is 
laid on'them, should be lower by the thickness of the 
turves when rammed and well trod on than the ad¬ 
jacent borders or beds; so that, in laying down the 
peat, you have to fill up a slight hollow or depression, 
the sxles of which keep your turves together. When 
the fitting is completed, go over the path with a knife 
once or twice, at intervals of a day or so, and cut off 
the bits of root and fibre that project; and the back of 
a rake will be the best thing to remove any loose soil 
which may ooze from the peat, or other litter that 
may require removal. A broom must not be used— 
for even a new one will not be found, in this case, to 
sweep clean—it will create dirt and spoil your path. 
The path has a very neat appearance, particularly 
when it comes in contact with grass, as mine does, 
the edges of the borders being grassed. What the du¬ 
rability of it will be, remains to be proved. It may 
last two or more years, but I shall be content if it 
lasts but one, for the peat will be useful, and more 
flags are soon procured in this, as in most districts, to 
supply the place of the old material.—W. H. G. 
Failures in Bee-keeping. — About two years 
since I became desirous of keeping bees, being, how¬ 
ever, entirely ignorant of their habits and manage¬ 
ment. Accordingly, about the middle of May, 1847, 
I purchased of a cottager a first swarm which he 
was daily expecting; his swarm was hived on the 
22nd of May, but was not brought to me until a 
week afterwards (29th), when the cottager placed it 
on the stand prepared for it, and cemented it down. 
The following morning 1 found the bees in the 
utmost confusion, a great hunch of them hanging 
from the bottom of the stand, whilst others were 
whirling about in apparent distraction. All this, in 
my ignorance, 1 attributed to their not having be¬ 
come settled in their new quarters; but as the day 
advanced (it being very warm for May), I was 
alarmed at seeing a quantity of honey spread on the 
ground beneath the hive, and many dead bees strew¬ 
ing the ground, drowned in their sweets. All the 
next night and following day the same state of 
things continued, but the number of living bees was 
hourly getting less. I then sent for a man who had 
kept bees for many years; he turned up the hive, 
and, to my vexation, not a handful of bees remained 
alive; the whole mass of comb had fallen from the 
top of the hive, crushing, drowning, and destroying 
all the inmates: here was an end of my first misfor¬ 
tune. The individual whom I called to my aid then 
told me he could spare me a first swarm, which had 
come forth about the middle of May: this I gladly 
agreed to take, and it was brought about the end of 
June. After this stock • had been in my possession 
about three weeks, thinking it was full of honey, as 
the bees were idling about, and clustering beneath 
the stand at night, I removed a circular piece of 
about three inches diameter from the top of the hive, 
and put on a small hive in full expectation of secur¬ 
ing a supply of honey therefrom; but on taking the 
upper hive off about a month after, I found it quite 
tenantless, containing nothing but one small piece 
of snowy-white comb, about twice as big as a lien’s 
egg. Just before the winter of 1847, the straw hive 
not being a new one 1 had it cemented on the out¬ 
side, and thinking that this would prevent the escape 
of exhalations from the bodies of the inmates, and 
that this would prove prejudical to their health, I 
had a circular piece of deal, 3^ inches in diameter 
and 14 inch thick, let into the top of the hive, 
pierced with four holes, each being about f inch in 
diameter, which I intended to serve either as venti¬ 
lators or as passages for the bees to pass up for the 
purpose of feeding, or of filling the upper story. 
The f inch holes I covered with a moveable piece 
of perforated zinc, so as to exclude the bees from the 
upper story at pleasure. I fed the bees in the 
autumn of 1847 and in the spring of 1848, and 
during the spring and summer they appeared very 
strong; indeed they would scarcely suffer any person 
near the hive. During the month of May I was 
rather anxious to obtain a swarm from this hive, for 
the purpose of supplying one of Nutt’s hives (boxes) 
which I had purchased, and with that view pre¬ 
vented their passing into the upper story. From 
their confusion during the latter part of May and 
beginning of June I was led to expect a swarm, but 
the middle of June having arrived, and still no 
swarm appearing, I was anxious to prevent their 
doing so, fearing it might be getting so late that it 
would weaken the old stock, and that the new 
swarm would not have time to lay up in the Nutt’s 
hive a sufficient supply of honey for the following 
winter. I therefore opened the communication 
with the upper story; some of the bees immediately 
made their appearance through the openings, con¬ 
vincing me that there was ample room in the four 
holes for them to carry on their communication 
