39 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY 
BLOOMING MAGNOLIAS. 
Lee Jortin, at page 449 of Yol. XVII., appears to re¬ 
quire information relative to the distinguishing of blooming 
Magnolias. First, in point of practice, I assisted to pet, 
train, and coax a Magnolia against the south side of a 
parsonage house near Ludlow, Salop, for the term of six¬ 
teen years. It formed, certainly, a most handsome ever¬ 
green, though its growth was very slow, and its blooming 
was wonderfully less; for, during that period, not a single 
flower appeared upon it. From a hint I gathered from Mr. 
Pawlby, during a visit I made a few weeks since to the 
beautiful grounds of Mount Edgecumbe, near Plymouth, I 
may possibly be enabled to solve a query for Lee Jortin 
apropos to the question, “ How am I to distinguish the land 
of Magnolia that intends to bloom ?” 
Amongst the noble evergreens in the pleasure grounds at 
Mount Edgecumbe appeared some remarkably fine standard 
Magnolias, and amongst them I recognised the genus of 
my Shropshire friend, Magnolia laurifolia, as Mr. Pawlby 
called it, and he also named it the worst bloomer of its 
species, which accounted for my disappointment. I asked 
this question for future guidance : “ What variety do you 
recommend as the freest and most certain to flower in the 
open air ? ” Mr. Pawlby replied, “ M. grandijlora, and the 
true kind can be recognised by the perfect down of russet 
colour which covers the whole under surfaces of the leaves, 
in contradistinction to the Exmonth M. grandijlora, an in¬ 
ferior bloomer, which is often sold for it, but which can 
always be distinguished from the former by the under sur- 
| faces of the leaves being only partially covered with the 
1 russet on each side of their mid-ribs. The under surfaces 
| of the leaves of M . laurifolia have not got a particle of 
i rust upon them.” Mr. Pawlby had, during a forty-seven- 
I years’ residence, propagated the plants, as well as most of 
I those fine evergreen and deciduous trees which I saw around 
| me.— Upwards and Onwards. 
QUEEN BEES AND ROYAL JELLY. 
There is a very common belief that the larva of a queen 
bee is fed • with a peculiar sort of food called royal jelly. 
This high-titled substance is noticed by most writers without 
I the least reference to what it really is; and we think that, 
j when Scharack discovered that bees would rear a queen 
j from a “ worker’s grub,” he believed that the change was 
in a great measure effected by that peculiar food. 
Some years back we had a correspondence with Mr. 
Taylor on this subject, and denied that the change was 
effected by food, and, indeed, the royal jelly theory altogether. 
This elicited remarks from various correspondents; but we 
maintained our assertion on the simple ground that there 
are only two kinds of bees, male and female, and that the 
| old notion that “ working bees are neuters ” was fabulous, 
i Supposing even that it was not, the sex could not be changed 
by food; indeed, such an idea would lead to the erroneous 
doctrine of the transmigration of the species. Amongst the 
correspondents referred to was Mr. Golding, whose autho- 
| rity may be trusted, and we asked him what he thought of 
j “ royal jelly.” He replied, “ Fudge!” We need hardly say 
that this accorded with our own belief, from having often 
examined hives during the time that queen bees are reared 
without discovering any food differing from pollen or “ bee 
• bread." 
Having stated that queens and working bees are of the same 
j sex, we may observe that the first only differ in the more 
complete development of their growth when in the larva 
state in larger cells. Hence, when bees lose a queen, in 
order to rear another they have only to enlarge a cell con- 
j taining a “ worker’s grub,” and feed it with common food. 
But we have to note that such queens must be barren with¬ 
out the presence of drones or males. 
We have had several proofs that bees have the power to 
i rear a queen to supply the loss of another; but as this is 
j hardly doubted, except as regards the difference in food 
already noticed, we trust that the following one may suffice:— 
Having deprived a late, weak hive of its queen, and care¬ 
fully examined the combs which contained workers’ larva, 
j but no queen’s cells, nor any begun, we confined the bees 
GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, April 21, 1857 
two days, in order to prevent strange ones from attacking 
them before they settled. In about three weeks after they 
reared another queen like the one we destroyed. Her 
cell was an enlarged worker’s one, and, of course, in a 
horizontal position, differing from the usual queens’ cells, 
the mouths of which are downwards, and less elegant than 
all the other cells, however much has been said in their 
praise. 
Connected with this subject we may give the following ex- j 
tract from a note which we had from Dr. Bevan. He says, ! 
“When adverting to your observations on royal cells 1 forgot 1 
to remark that I once had an excellent opportunity of I 
observing one behind the window of one of my boxes. In that j 
instance it was open at the bottom for several days, and had a i 
complete lid formed by the circular end of the cell, which, | 
remaining still attached to the main portion of it, was made ; 
use of by the workers like a lid hinged to an inverted tin I 
can, with which, whenever the queen regent approached, i 
which she often did, with a destructive purpose, the cell was 
quickly closed, and her majesty warned off. At other times 
it was open, suspended by its waxen binge. During this 
period of her confinement the young princess was very 
sedulously attended, and, as I conceived, duly fed, though I 
could only witness the introduction of the workers’ heads.” 
There are three things mentioned by this worthy apiarian 
which seem to require a little notice. One, the queen’s cell 
being open at the bottom. He means the mouth of it, 
which is downwards, consequently the bottom is upwards. 
There is no notice how the lid of it was closed during the 
attacks by the old queen, but I suspect it was by the bees ; 
and he does not say if the young one called when the old 
one tried to destroy her. I have heard one pipe during the 
attack; still that peculiar sound is often uttered by several 
young queens at once, the sound being high or low according 
to their ages.— J. Wighton. 
NOTES FROM THE CONTINENT.—No. 2 . 
The burial places of a foreign nation are always interest¬ 
ing to the traveller ; so finding, when I was in Hamburgh 
Botanic Garden, that I was within a few minutes’ walk of 
the cemetery, I determined to see it. It is a large square 
piece of ground, without the slightest attempt at landscape 
gardening. There is a broad, straight walk across the 
middle of it, and narrower paths run parallel to it at short 
distances ; these are united at either end by a walk running 
at right angles to them. There are avenues of trees to each 
walk, generally of Lime trees, so that in summer the whole 
place would be completely overshadowed. Each family 
appears to have a little piece of ground appropriated to 
themselves, and separated from the others by iron railing 
or low hedges of Privet. There are no raised graves, but 
each space is laid out with flower-beds, to which, it is evident, 
a good deal of attention is paid. There are, at present, 
many Roses, Rhododendrons, and other plants not quite 
hardy, carefully tied up in straw. There is not a statue, 
bust, or monumental pillar in the whole cemetery; here, 
as elsewhere, the people of Hamburgh show that they are no 
patrons of the fine arts. There is no pompous eulogy of 
the virtues of the departed upon the tomb-stones, or black 
crosses which mark the individual graves; only the name, 
age, and generally a verse from Scripture ; but every grave 
shows that the person buried there is fondly kept in remem¬ 
brance, by the wreaths and chaplets of flowers which lay 
upon them. These wreaths are usually made of green 
moss, with a few dyed everlasting flowers ( Gnaphalinm ), 
and streamers of white ribbon, but some of them are more 
costly; and I saw a few bouquets of forced flowers, such as 
Azaleas, Lilies of the Valley, Primulas, &c., which must 
have been placed there only a few hours before. On the 
humbler graves lay little bunches of Hepatica and Crocus 
flowers, with a few' sprigs of Box or Ivy leaves tied round 
them. These flowers are merely laid upon the graves, or 
hung upon the crosses, and although the gates of the 
cemetery are constantly open, yet no one touches them. 
The sale of these bouquets and wreaths for the decoration 
of the graves of departed friends forms no inconsiderable 
part of the business of the florists of Hamburgh. 
