175 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, June 10, 1857. 
BEES REGULATING THE 
HIVE. 
HEAT OF THE 
The figures in the body oi' Mr. Taylor’s remarks show 
that the temperature of the hive in winter has been as low 
as 84° ; this appears to be, however, a rare occurrence—once 
in two years. Still, where this has taken place in a hive 
apparently healthily constituted, it is enough to show that 
40° are not the limit, more especially as 05° and 37 ° have also 
been touched, if not by the same hive, by others. This is 
still above freezing point, and but for the foot note would 
rather confirm me in my opinion. This note, however, is 
clearly against it, and I should esteem it a favour if Mr. 
Taylor would farther oblige me by informing me on the 
following points :— 
Was this second hive, which showed on December 23rd 
and 26th, 1835, 32° and 30°, equal, or nearly so, to the 
others in all the requisites of a healthy stock? Has so 
low a temperature of the hive come under the observation 
of Mr. Taylor either before or since ? What was the 
temperature of the second hive at 8 a.m., January 2nd, 183(5? 
Before commencing the experiments formerly reported I 
had well considered the fact, mentioned by Mr. Taylor, of 
your correspondent “ Senoj,” to pass unnoticed. It is 
well known that very few Dahlias will permit the approach 
of a bee either to extract honey or pollen, the anthers of the 
flowers being so compactly and.closely arranged that the 
centre is generally inaccessible. At the same time it is, I 
think, an equally well-established fact that bees travel a very 
considerable distance for their provender, except when their 
immediate locality is more than usually attractive. In con¬ 
firmation, too, of my opinion that the Dahlia is either in¬ 
nocuous to bees, or that the bees do not sufficiently partake 
of its noxious qualities, I can instance a very large number 
of successful apiarians who are also Dahlia growers. 1 am 
inclined, therefore, to suppose that your correspondent’s 
apiary has suffered from some cause which, perhaps, may be 
elucidated should he communicate the situation and par¬ 
ticulars of his apiary, or, if he will himself examine it, 
perhaps he will tell your readers the result of his observa¬ 
tions.— Thomas Laxton, jun., Stamford. 
the bees 
receding 
from, or 
congregating 
about, the ther¬ 
mometer, and the effect thereon, and I endeavoured to place 
it in such a way as to obviate as far as possible these 
misleading fluctuations. 1 believe the common way of 
using the thermometer is either by inserting it in a tube 
leading down into the hive, or, dispensing with a tube, 
passing it down between the combs and among the bees, 
and so leaving it, to both of which methods I conceive 
there is another serious objection over and above those 
mentioned by Mr. Taylor. The bulb by this process may 
be inserted so far into the hive as to be below the bees, and 
consequently below the heat, in which case the mercury 
will not give a true indication of the temperature of the hive, 
but one approximating to that of the outside atmosphere. 
Might not such a position of affairs have been operating in 
the second hive when its temperature appeared to be so low? 
If a weak hive is this unlikely ? As I intend prosecuting 
this matter farther I shall consider it a great kindness if 
Mr. Taylor will give me his valuable opinion upon the plan 
I adopted, or tell me what he would consider a better, in 
lieu of placing the thermometer within the hive, between 
the combs and among the bees, I lixed it rather over the 
hive, in a position where the bees could not reach it, but 
still where the general body of the air which had permeated 
the hive might yet impinge upon it. Over the hole in the 
top of the hive I laid a wire grating, on which a feeding-dish 
was set; within the hole of this dish the bulb was slung, and 
all escape of air prevented by the space around it being 
puttied closely up.—D. G. M‘Lellan. 
[I am sorry I cannot, at this distance of time, assist Mr. 
D. G M‘Lellan beyond giving the bare facts as they appear 
in my communication at page 103 of The Cottage Gar¬ 
dener. I have no doubt that the stock-hives alluded to 
were a fair average in point of health and strength, possibly 
some rather better protected than others. Mr. M'Lellan’s 
method of placing the thermometer was probably a judicious 
one, unless it was too much above the bees. 5n the case of 
a box or a wooden-topped hive the double tube, as shown 
at jiage 81, fifth edition of the “ Bee-keeper’s Manual,” 
might be advantageously used for experimental purposes. 
A thermometer inserted within the inner tube need reach no 
lower down from the top of the hive than three or four 
inches, or within an average temperature. The population of 
the family, of course, has its influence, as well as the care 
taken to provide a sufficient protection and winter covering 
to the hives. With such precaution the temperature may, 
under ordinary circumstances, be maintained several degrees 
above freezing without resorting to any unusual theory on 
the subject.—H. Taylor.] 
HARDY FLOWERS BLOOMING EARLY IN 
JUNE. 
We have a large collection of hardy plants. Would you 
have any objection to publishing a few names weekly, as 
they flower, in The Cottage Gardener, so that lovers of 
flowers may have them in their gardens from January to 
January ? The under-mentioned are now (June 4) in full 
perfection. 
I commence with Czackia Uliastrum , flowers beautiful, 
white. We have them in clumps very fine. Alyssum saxa- 
tile variegata, yellow; Geranium Lancastriense, pink; Dio 
tamnus ( Fraxinella ) rubrus an dalbus ; Ceruslium lomentosiwi, 
flowers white ; Dodccatheon elegans, lilac, and alba ; Gnapha- 
lium dioicum, an everlasting, pink; Linumfavum, yellow, one 
of the lovely hardy plants ; Myosotis alpestris , blue and white; 
Ononis rolundifolia, pink ; Pulmonaria Virgin ica, brilliant 
blue; Saponaria ocymoides , pink; Sisyrinchiwn anceps, blue ; 
~TroIfius Americanos, orange ; Verbascim phceniceum, purple ; 
C alt ha palustris fore plena, orange; Cheirantkus Marshallii , 
golden yellow; Dielytra spectabilis, pink; Oxalis foribunda , 
pink. This is a 
summer, only growing to the 
ought to be in every garden. Primula cortusoides , lilac; 
P. involucrata , white; Veronica gentianoides, white and blue ; 
l r . chamcedrys, cream, very dwarf; Nepeta violacea, violet; 
Me/ittis melissophylimn; M. yraudiflora; Phlox setacea, 
lively pink; Saxifraga yranulata fore plena alba .— W. U. 
[We shall be much obliged by a continuance of this list. 
If all our readers will oblige us with a list, at the begin¬ 
ning and end of each month, of the plants then blooming 
in the open ground, and stating where, we will unite such 
lists, and publish them as a record and guide. Our cor¬ 
respondents will facilitate our progress if they will send 
their report in a tabular form thus :— 
most charming plant, dowering all the 
height of three inches. 
Phlox setacea 
Pink 
June 4 
Reigate. 
-Ed. C. G.J 
EFFECT OF DAHLIAS ON BEES. 
Having been a keeper and observer of bees for the last 
ten years, I cannot allow the absurd notion which has been 
going round the newspapers, and which was taken up by 
It 
THE CRUCIFEILE, OR CROSS FLOWERS. 
From Hogg's Natural History oj the l egetable Kingdom. 
We extract from Part I. of Mr. Hogg’s valuable work, 
issued at the beginning of this mdnth, the following interest 
iug account of a family of plants which contains so many 
subjects of interest to all gardeners :— 
“ Geographical Distribution. — The Cruciferse are 
distributed over the whole surface of the globe. The 
greatest number is found in the temperate regions of the 
northern hemisphere, particularly of the Old World; but 
they become more rare towards the poles, and rarer still 
towards the tropics. While, according to De Candolle, 
there are 548 in the north temperate zone, there are 86 in 
the south temperate; and against 30 growing between the 
tropics there are 205 found in the north frigid zone. 
