134 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, November 25, 1850. 
hazarding a conjecture upon what it is that causes the 
j death of "bees in winter, although having a supply of honey, 
j and it is this. 
Some fatal accident befalls the queen at a time when 
| there are no grubs in a stage of existence fit for the bees 
to make another. The bees soon reach the limit of their 
days, and no young, through the absence of a queen, suc¬ 
ceeding, they dwindle and die, and die and dwindle, till all 
are dead. I should like to have the opinion of apiarians on 
this hypothesis.—D. G. M‘Lellan, Ratherrjlcn. 
QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 
BULBS TO FLOWER AT CHRISTMAS. 
In answer to “ G. B. C.,” I do not at all approve of placing 
your bulbs, when potted on the 1st of October, on the open 
shelves of a greenhouse. They are exposed to too many 
changes of temperature and moisture to root freely. Hence 
the advantage of the method of which you inquire—of placing 
the bulbs in a sheltered spot out of doors when potted, and 
covering them six inches or a foot over with ashes, old 
tan, &c. I disapprove, however, of sinking them in the 
ground to effect this, as that has a tendency to damp and 
mould the bulbs, and even to make the soil in the pots too 
moist. After the bulbs are placed in rich, sandy loam, well 
drained, in the manner for different varieties as described 
in previous volumes, preferring smallish pots to very large 
ones, they should be placed in a position out of doors higher 
than the surrounding ground, and then be covered over as 
stated. If such bulbs are covered for about half their 
depth in the pots, that will be sufficient. Earth should then 
be placed round their necks cone fashion. The covering 
material will have a tendency to press the bulb a little 
firmer and deeper. Supposing the potting was done in 
October, I prefer covering the bulbs slightly at first, merely 
two or three inches. If the soil used for potting them is 
moistish, there will just be enough of moisture about the 
base of the bulb, combined with the heat still remaining 
in the ground on which they are placed, to cause them 
to root freely. As the weather gets colder in November a 
little more covering may be put on until it reaches from 
six to twelve inches thick, especially if the frost should be 
severe. When that is the case I prefer covering all over 
with a little sweet litter in preference to having above six or 
eight inches of material over the pots. Even though placed 
on an elevated position, I should also use boards or thatched 
hurdles to keep off heavy rains or falls of snow, removing 
the latter, at least, before it melted. Under such treatment 
the pots, in about six w’eeks, will have a well-laced ball of 
roots, and the flower-stems will just be pushing. Then, 
and not before, is the time for commencing forcing. 'With¬ 
out abundance of roots the more heat you give the more 
mischief you commit. The stem is made to advance, and 
there is no correlative action of the roots to support it; and 
hence “ weakly ” and defective blooming. The same holds 
good even with Hyacinths in glasses in warmish sitting- 
rooms. We have often seen the advantage of filling the 
glasses with water about 60°, and then packing them up to 
the neck in dry moss or wadding, while the upper part of the 
bulb was left unprotected; and thus the glasses were full of 
roots before the flow r er-bud was doing more than moving. 
Supposing that your Hyacinths, for instance, in pots are 
thus thoroughly well rooted, and not before, you may put 
them into such temperature as you speak of, from 55° to 
65°, with the prospect of getting good blooms in a month 
or six weeks, according to the weather. They dearly like 
bottom-heat, especially at this early season, and that may 
range from 70° to 80°. Coming from such a position in the 
open air as I have adverted to, they should not be plunged 
at once ; and neither should the yellow-looking buds be ex¬ 
posed at once to sunshine. Merely place in the bed at first, 
and shade from sunshine until the young leaves get their 
green tinge, when it will be little necessary. When the plants 
have stood several days in the bed, then plunge the pots, 
and if you w r ant them quickly you may gradually raise 
the temperature from 55° to (10° at night, and 70° to 75° 
during the day, with sunshine. Even with all this care the 
flower-stems, at this early season, are apt to come short and 
dumpy at times, so that room cannot be given for the ex¬ 
pansion of the flowers. I will, therefore, mention as a great 
secret a simple means I used for making the flower-stalks 
lengthen nicely; so nicely, that he was a very obstinate fellow 
of a Hyacinth indeed that could resist the charm. Stout 
brown or other paper was made into funnels from six to nine 
inches long, and so wide at the base end as to include the bulb 
and a good portion of the soil in the pot on which it stood. 
If you saw a number lying you would think we were going to 
turn grocers, and distribute conical-shaped pounds of sugar or 
raisins. The only difference is, that our conical funnel, in¬ 
stead of being twisted into a close point, so that the sugar, 
& c., could not get out, has a hole half an inch or so in 
diameter open there. When the funnel is placed over the 
bulb, the hole lets in just enough of light to prevent any¬ 
thing like blanching; while the combined influence of shade 
and increased heat contained all round the stem force it up 
more gently than a wire is lengthened by heat and a pair 
of pincers. When the flower-stem is long enough, remove 
the funnel. By such means I generally managed to get 
good flowers from weak and condensed starts when the 
roots were all right in the first place. I have often taken 
half a dozen of such flow'ers, left three alone, and three I 
applied the funnels to, and in almost every case the former 
failed and the latter succeeded. At an early season, were I 
forcing these bulbs early again, I would funnel every one of 
them. One copy of the Times newspaper would make ever 
so many funnels. 
WINTERING ALOES, CACTI, MELOCACTI, &c. 
Our correspondent has twelve dozen of these. They will 
do admirably in the house he speaks of with an average 
temperature of 50° till February. If they have been so 
long potted as to fill the pots with roots, they will be quite 
as well standing on the bed without bottom-heat. Those 
that have recently been potted are small, and roots not got 
to the sides of the pot will be better plunged in a mild 
bottom-heat, say averaging about 70°. After February you 
can hardly give them too much top-heat, say ranging 
from 05° to 75° artificial heat, and from 70° to 90° sun 
heat; but the light must be direct, and not shaded by 
Cucumbers or anything else. 
AGERATUM CONYZOIDES NOT FLOWERING. 
This is not a white variety so far as I am aware. It is a 
light greyisli-blue; but, provided your plants were at all 
strong when planted out in the end of May, I cannot con¬ 
ceive what could be the reason it did not bloom, as the 
Mexicanum has done so. As that has flowered late, I 
suspect you raised both from seeds, or planted out very late 
cuttings, as fairish plants of Mexicanum from cuttings ought 
to be in full bloom by the middle and end of July. 
KILLING THE BUG ON PINE APPLES. 
“ An Anxious Inquirer ” had far better have burned the 
crowns he received from India, instead of attempting to get 
a stock from such sources. Unless you are sure of getting 
some fine new kind, the risk attending such importations 
far exceeds their value. In all cases such importations 
of Pines should be kept closely by themselves, and apart 
from anything else, and at a good distance too. I have 
known a few crowns of such Pines spread the pest over a 
whole establishment, and conquered only after years of 
vexatious and unremitting trouble. Now for curing. A 
rank dung-heat, full of strong ammoniacal gas, will kill 
all the insects above-ground, and this continued will settle 
them all in time. That time, however, may he long, as, 
when much attacked, the downy gentlemen will retreat to 
the roots, and they will hang there like little carbuncles 
when you have long ceased to see one on the foliage. If you 
cannot make up your mind to burn the whole, try the fol¬ 
lowing, which I have known to be effectual:—Boil a pound 
of tobacco in a gallon or two of water for half an hour or 
so, and, when settled, pour off the liquor. Melt a pound of 
soft-soap and a pound of size or glue in warm water. Take 
a pound of flowers of sulphur, mix it up into a paste, so that 
it will easily mix with water afterwards. Add to it one gill 
or quartern of turpentine. Mix the whole well together in 
a tub containing about twelve gallons of water, and at a 
