THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, November 2, 1858. 69 
Air. —Convenience should be adopted for giving this health¬ 
giving element. If it is confined for a long time in a dose case, 
it becomes almost poisonous to the inmates : hence, provision 
should be made to allow the bad air to escape, and to admit 
ah' that is sweet and fresh. Large cases should have the sloping 
part at the top hinged, or even made to lift off entirely. This 
air-giving should be more particularly attended to in damp, dark, 
weather : in dry, bright sunshine tho case may be kept close, and 
even shaded, with advantage. I would recommend the giving of 
air during the night. Remember this, no plant will live long in an 
air-tight vessel: hence, give air to your Wardian Case at all con¬ 
venient times. 
Water. —This is quite as necessary as air, rain water being the 
best. Of course, the greatest quantity is needful in spring and 
summer, when the greatest growth is going forward. In applying 
the water, be careful never to wet the leaves, especially when in a 
young state: provision must be made to allow the water to drain 
freely away. 
The best season to fill and plant a glass-case is about the 
month of March. The soil will then be full of moisture, and 
then a great amount of ventilation will be necessary. Water 
must not be given till the surface of the soil is partially dried, 
evidently showing the need of fresh moisture. In planting, never 
crowd in too mang plants ; and keep a constant supervision over 
them, removing every decaying substance, and thus preventing 
the deterioration of the air. In the autumn especially, many of 
the fronds will naturally decay. These should be removed before 
actual decay takes place. 
The glass will become dirty, and even turn green: it should 
then be washed quite clean, well dried, and placed over the plants 
directly. The soil, too, should be frequently stirred, and in 
spring renewed as much as possible. 
The question now arises,—what plants will thrive in a Wardian 
Case ? In my opinion, formed from many years experience, there 
is no tribe of plants so well suited for this purpose as Ferns. 
Other plants may exist for a time, but I never knew any survive 
a winter except Ferns and Lycopods, and even discrimination is 
necessary in choosing the species of these two tribes for the 
purpose. The following I have found to do as well, or better, 
than any others. Large-growing, or creeping, kinds should be 
avoided, as they soon overshadow and destroy the smaller kinds. 
For small cases choose those marked with an asterisk:— 
Adiantum Moritzianum, 
*A. cuneatum. 
A. affine. 
A. pubescens. 
Asplenimn oltusatum. 
A. pulchellum. 
A. monanthemum. 
Blechnum gracile. 
* Cheilanthes micromera. 
C. tenuifolia. 
*Davallia pulchella. 
I), solida. 
*Doodia lunulata. 
I), aspera. 
Lastrcea glabella. 
Lomaria lanceolata. 
L. attenuata. 
*Nothochleana nivea. 
Niphobolus lingua. 
Pteris haslata. 
Lycopodium stoloniferuin. 
*L.formosim. 
L. caesium. 
* L. denticulatum. 
L. reticulosum. 
L. circinatum. 
L. Willdenovii. 
T. Arruiur. 
BEE-KEEPING IN DEVON.—No. IV. 
THE YANKEE AND RACOONS—DRIVING —SUCCESSES— EFFECTS OF 
FUMIGATION—ATTEMPTED EXPERIMENT—A JOURNEY—AR¬ 
RIVAL—DISAPPOINTMENT—REQUIESCAT IN PACE ! 
Everyone knows the story of tho veracious Yankee, who, 
being an unerring shot with the rifle, succeeded in so impressing 
the wholo race of racoons with this fact, that at length ho had no 
occasion to fire at all, since the moment he pointed his gun “ the 
darned critters gived in!” I trust the readers of The Cottage 
Gardener will not be tempted to place my veracity on a par 
with that of the denizen of the backwoods, when I inform them, 
that having ouce accomplished the feat of “ driving ” a stock of 
bees, I did not find the least difficulty in repeating it. 
I cannot to this day account for the obstinate resistance de¬ 
tailed in my last communication, since the hive operated on 
appeared in the most favourable condition for success, being very 
populous, and entirely destitute of brood. Whether the con¬ 
sciousness of power gave such an air of decision to my after pro¬ 
ceedings, as of itself to insure their success, I cannnot say, but 
from this time all difficulties vanished. Whether the stock to be 
operated oa was poor or rich, populous or the reyerse, with brood- 
comb, or without, the result was the same, an easy victory to me 
and utter discomfiture to the poor bees. 
Therefore, without entering into details, I may shortly state, 
that, three days after the glorious victory before alluded to, I 
found myself in possession of tho inhabitants of a couple of con¬ 
demned hives, which I purposed uniting to my own Nos. 1 and 3. 
I had also the bees from two very populous stocks added to those 
which survived the fatal fungus ; and these being placed all 
together, in a box v ith some guide-comb, I determined to en¬ 
deavour to keep them alive during tho winter by feeding, in the 
hope that, if successful, they might repay my care by forming a 
strong stock in the spring. 
This is an experiment which I have tried more than once with 
fumigated bees, and with one uniform result: some of them have 
survived the winter, but have gradually died ofi in early spring,—• 
the whole becoming extinct by the end of March. Repeated 
failures in theso attempts, combined with other circumstances, 
had impressed me with the opinion mentioned in my last, “ that 
fumigation is permanently injurious, even to such bee3 as appear 
at the time perfectly to recover from it; ” and it was, therefore, 
with no little pleasure that 1 found myself in a position to repeat 
the experiment with a large body of bees, the great majority 
of which had sufi'ered from no more injurious influence, than 
the temporary fear which had induced them to abandon a well- 
stored home, for one in which they were altogether dependent 
upon my bounty. 
Everything, therefore, appearing propitious, I gleefully took 
my seat on the mail, shortly after five o’clock on the morning of 
the 31st August last, my bee-boxes being carefully stowed on the 
roof. It was certainly a glorious morning, and I thought with 
pleasure of the willing labourers I was conveying to garner up 
the list produce of the now fast-fading Heath; and debated within 
myself, if it were probable that"tlie destitute unfortunates, whom 
I had transferred from their comfortable habitations to a box 
furnished only with empty guide-comb, would be able to do any¬ 
thing in aid of my own efforts to avert the famine which was 
impending over them. 
It was not long ere the sun arose with unclouded brilliancy, 
from behind the very hill and clump of Fir trees celebrated in a 
former communication as the temporary locality of my rather 
limited apiary ; and I had the pleasure of beholding, with “ my 
mind’s eye,” at the distance of half-a-dozen miles, my own bees 
emerging from the tree-tops, and joyfully saluting the glorious 
luminary as they darted off to their happy labours. 
The speed at which the mail travelled soon brought me to the 
point where its services were no longer available,—about three 
miles short of my destination. Here, craving permission of a 
cottager to deposit my bee-boxes in his court-yard, I left them to 
proceed to a village, a mile and a half off, in search of some con¬ 
veyance. This 1 soon found in the shape of a light spring cart 
and pony, which its driver undertook should, for “ a considera¬ 
tion,” convey my little travellers to their journey’s end. 
Soon commenced what I have before termed the “ main diffi¬ 
culty,” and, in spite of the utmost care and extreme slowness of 
progression, the steepness of the hill and ruggedness of the road 
produced a succession of violent jerks and concussions, which 
must have proved fatal to well-stored hives with heavy combs. 
In this case, however, there wore only destitute bees and empty 
comb, from the fall of which no serious consequences were to be 
apprehended ; and ventilation being secured, and the bees them¬ 
selves confined by the holes, and entrances to the boxes having 
been covered with perforated zinc, we slowly pursued our way, 
without any misgivings as to the result. 
In due course we arrived at the site of the ancient camp men¬ 
tioned in a former communication, and here I found my bees in 
full activity. As soon as the conveyance was dismissed, it be¬ 
came necessary to lit up a temporary pedestal for the convenience 
of the deprived bees. A stout Oak post was soon driven into 
tho ground, and, the box being secured to it, nothing remained but 
to give the captives their liberty, and effect a precipitate retreat. 
Once more, then, open the entrance, and stand by for a rush! 
It is done ; but there is no rush! A few bees run out, vibrating 
their wings, and, attempting flight, fall slowly to the ground. 
A still more scanty number succeed in flying, and buzz heavily 
around. 
What, then, has become of the remainder? A hurried in¬ 
spection reveals the mystery. Stifled in their own sweets, 
which the violentjmotion, and, possibly, insufficient ventilation, 
had compelled them to eject, they lay stark and motionless on 
the floor-board of each box! 
