382 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, Inarch 3, 1857. 
The collector who found it called it L. pulchella, a name 
which is only calculated to mislead.—( Horticultural Society’s 
Journal .) 
COLLATERAL HIVES. 
The peculiarities which distinguish the collateral boxes 
I use from those of Nutt and others I have either seen or 
heard of being in use, lie first in the mode of communication 
between the stock box and side room, and, secondly, in the 
construction of that room itself; and I think I may be 
allowed to characterise the modification of the system as an 
improvement, when the advantages to be derived therefrom, 
and mentioned hereafter, are taken into consideration. 
I shall endeavour to be as concise as possible in the 
following description, at the same time studying to render | 
that description sufficiently clear for the guidance of any ! 
person so disposed possessed of a few tools, a little leisure, 
and a moderate modicum of constructive talent, to make | 
them for himself as I do. 
The stock box is made of one-inch stuff throughout, 
eleven inches and three-eighths square inside measurement, 
eight inches deep including the bars, which are seven in 
number, one inch and an eighth wide and half an inch thick; 
these bars are moveable, and rest in recesses cut to receive 
them in the inside edge of the box back and front. The | 
four centre spaces between the bars are three-eighths of an 
inch, the other four spaces half an inch. A window seven j 
inches long and five deep is placed at the front, another at { 
the back. The glass must be as flush as possible with the j 
inside of the box. Wooden blocks or zinc slides are used 
for shutters. 
The crown hoard is also of one-inch stuff, clamped at the 
ends, and projecting over the stock box half an inch on 
every side, except the one which communicates with the 
side compartment. On its underneath side two grooves are ! 
cut two inches and a half wide, three-eighths of an inch 
deep. One groove is situated at the front, the other at the 
back. Each groove commences parallel with the inside of 
the box at one end, and runs right through at the other. 
The outside edge of each is in a line with the inside of the 
box back and front. They are thus eleven inches and seven- 
eighths in length. 
The crown board for the side accommodation is made in all ! 
respects the same, care being taken that the outlets of the 
several grooves in each correspond with and fit each other 
accurately, as they are the galleries of communication— 
the upper thoroughfares from the one to the other. The 
dividers are of zinc, two inches and a half long, one inch and 
a half deep. One half of their depth is perforated, the 
other plain. When the family is reduced to the stock box, 
the insertion of the perforated half of the divider affords 
ample ventilation. A three-inch hole in the centre of each 
board, provided with either a wooden block or perforated 
zinc plate (both will be found useful), completes them. The 
side accommodation consists of two shallow boxes, each 
eleven inches and three-eighths square inside measure, four 
inches deep; both are supplied with bars as directed for 
the stock. In this case, however, they are only one quarter 
of an inch thick: the bottom one has no crown board. 
Two windows are cut in each box, seven inches by two 
inches and a half. These boxes are held together by 
means of hooks and eyes, and are fastened by the same J 
means to the stock. 
The floor board is in one piece, clamped at the ends, j 
larger than the boxes every way by about three quarters of 
an inch. This projection is bevelled down. The entrance 
to the stock box is cut out of this board, five inches long, 
three-eighths of an inch deep, sloping upwards and inwards. 
This entrance is placed towards the extremity of the board 
on one side, while the entrance to the side box is placed 
towards the extremity on the other side; so that when 
additional room is to be given the whole is turned com¬ 
pletely round, and the new entrance is brought to where 
the old one was. 
While the upper intercourse between the stock and side 
compartments is maintained by means of the grooves in the 
crown board, the lower is accomplished by means of two 
covered passages or calverts, cut out within the thickness of 
the floor board. These are each two inches and a half 
long, and, where covered three-eighths of an inch deep, 
terminating right and left by inclined planes. The bridge 
or covering is two inches wide. One of these passages is 
situated towards the front, the other towards the back. A 
narrow vertical opening is made both back and front for the 
reception of perforated dividers, and a piece of wood three 
inches wide, and as long as the floor board is wide, is 
screwed underneath to stay and strengthen the whole, at 
the same time serving as a floor for the bottom edge of the 
dividers to rest upon. 
These are the dimensions I find to be the most suitable for 
this locality, which may be ranked, with a little exaggeration, 
amongst the second class. In more highly-favoured spots, 
both in this northern region and in “ sunny England,” 
where “milk and honey” overflow, larger ones may be used. 
This increase of size is best given by enlarging the square 
of them so as to admit another bar, especially if it should 
be their fortune to be subjected to distant transportations, 
in order that their inmates may be made rich and joyous with 
the luscious nectar of the blooming Heath. I have often 
removed my boxes of the above depth for this purpose 
between thirty or forty miles, and never found the combs 
to fall; whereas it would be dangerous to attempt it will) 
boxes deeper, unless encumbered with cross sticks, whicli 
would effectually do away with the usefulness of the 
moveable bars. The foregoing description of my boxes is 
made under the supposition that they will be placed in a 
bee house or shed, as I fancy few who can afford the extra 
cost of wooden hives will grudge a few pounds for an 
erection to place them in. Should a bee house, however, 
not be used, there are a few things necessary which have 
not been mentioned ; indeed, it is scarcely needful to do so. 
as they will readily suggest themselves, such as alighting 
boards, stands, and covers. 
Two desiderata sought for, and, as a rule, I may say 
obtained, by this form of the boxes are, first, a more early 
deprivation, by means of the side room being in two com¬ 
partments, than can be accomplished when it is one and 
undivided; and secondly, the almost certainty there is of 
obtaining their contents pure and unmixed with brood. 
I have not said anything about affixing guide combs to 
each alternate bar, as the importance of so doing, the kind 
of comb used, and the modus operandi by which they ore 
attached, are so generally known, that to do so now would be 
a work of supererogation, tending to nothing than a farther 
inroad upon your space, which, I doubt, I have too much 
encroached upon already. —D. G. M'Lellan, Rutherglen. 
A GOOD POTTING-BENCH PRACTICE. 
This is a quick and pleasant way of shifting a plant 
without disturbing tender roots, and endangering a loosely- 
held-together ball. I have used it for years, and in some 
cases it is invaluable. 
Place the new pot before you; crock it, drain it, moss 
it, and bottom it with soil as in the usual way. Now take 
the plant in its old pot , and place it bodily on the bottoming 
of the new pot; fill up the space between the inner side of 
the new pot and the outer side of the old one, using the 
potting stick or your fingers, as the case may require. Now 
take out the old plant, pot and all, and you will have a 
beautiful mould or matrix, a little larger or smaller than 
the ball of your plant, according to the depth in which you 
potted the old pot in the new one. Now turn out the ball, 
pop it into the hole, press it down, and the thing is done. 
If the rim of the old pot is kept a trifle higher than the 
rim of the new, the ball will generally fit. This part will 
depend on the operator; I can only describe the operation.— 
A Practical Friend. 
NEW INVENTIONS. 
Those who read my stories from Shrubland Park may 
recollect my saying that Mr. Wells, the foreman on the 
pleasure ground, was the most honest man in all Suffolk. 
He was also a natural genius; he contrived many useful 
schemes for me to reduce labour, and he was “ always up to 
something.” The following extracts from a letter I had 
