348 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, August 31 , 1858 . 
uncertain. Seven-bar hive , eleven inches and a half square by 
nine inches deep. , ,, 
No. 3, on the 29th May, weighed 44 lbs.; probably an 
old queen, being a first swarm, from a first swarm of last year. 
Eight-bar hive, same size as No. 1. 
All these swarms were brought to me in common straw 
hives, and were transferred to their present domiciles by being 
knocked out on a cloth the same evening, when wooden hives 
were immediately placed over them, slightly raised on a couple 
of sticks, and all was right by the next morning. I would 
strongly recommend this mode of proceeding to all purchasers 
of bees from cottagers, as being much more convenient to the 
latter, and as avoiding the risk of broken windows, disfigured 
paint, and fallen guide-comb, all of which are the probable 
results of placing bee-boxes in inexperienced hands. 
The following table gives the net weight in each case, and 
is chiefly interesting as showing the comparative progress of 
the two swarms (Nos. 1 and 2), of exactly similar weights, 
hived within a day of each other, and placed side by side; but 
housed in boxes of different proportions. One the old seven- 
bar box, the other the shallow eight-bar box, which has been 
recently introduced, of which the first mentioned appears to 
have done the best. It also exhibits, in a striking manner, the 
advantage of numbers , and the disadvantage of an old queen , 
as exemplified in No. 3, which, after taking a decided lead, and 
keeping it, gradually fell off* in working, and will probably not 
survive longer than next spring, unless provided with a new 
Date. 
No. 1. 
No. 2. 
No. 
3. 
1858. 
lbs. 
oz. 
lbs. 
oz. 
lbs. 
oz 
June 
7 
6 
8 
5 
8 
8 
0 
3 ) 
8 
7 
8 
6 
8 
10 
2 
33 
9 
7 
12 
6 
12 
10 
4 
33 
11 
8 
8 
7 
12 
11 
6 
33 
12 
8 
8 
7 
14 
11 
6 
J 93 
13 
8 
8 
8 
0 
11 
8 
33 
14 
9 
0 
8 
8 
12 
8 
33 
15 
9 
10 
9 
0 
13 
2 
33 
17 
9 
10 
9 
2 
13 
0 
33 
19 
9 
10 
9 
4 
13 
4 
33 
20 
10 
8 
10 
6 
3 
14 
4 
33 
21 
10 
0 
10 
4 
14 
0 
22 
9 
8 
10 
4 
14 
8 
r. 
33 
23 
9 
4 
* 
13 
14 
33 
24 
9 
2 
13 
12 
33 
25 
9 
4 
9 
0 
13 
12 
33 
26 
9 
4 
13 
12 
33 
29 
9 
12 
9 
12 
14 
0 
July 
5 
11 
0 
10 
4 
15 
4 
33 
16 
15 
0 
15 
4 
19 
8 
33 
21 
14 
6 
14 
12 
18 
12 
Aug. 
4 
12 
0 
12 
2 
16 
0 
9 > 
10 
11 
4 
11 
8 
15 
6 
The day following (August 11th) all the hives were re¬ 
moved to a large heath, about eight miles off. Had this been 
done four weeks earlier, it would doubtless have been better, 
as it will be perceived that in all three the culminating point 
was reached on the 16th July. The journey to the heath, 
and its results, may form the subject of a future communica¬ 
tion. In the meantime, I shall be happy to reply to any 
inquiries from the correspondents to The Cottage Gar¬ 
dener, and the Editor is welcome to give my name and 
address to any gentleman who may be interested in Devon¬ 
shire bee-keeping.—T. W. W. 
GREENHOUSE FERNS. 
These lovely greenhouse plants will, as a matter of course, 
bear the open air in summer, and will be greatly benefited, 
especially the larger growing kinds, by being placed out of 
doors during the summer months; but the more delicate 
species should be kept constantly under glass. I have found 
a frame or cold pit a good habitation for them. In such a 
receptacle they are not so subject to the variations of the 
* This hive escaped weighing on three occasions by being very much 
on the alert. It always showed more bees at the entrance, and roared 
louder in the evening than the others. 
weather, and can be protected from excessive rains and heavy j 
storms of wind, and also from the glowing midday beams of | 
a summer’s sun. The coarser kinds will bear all these with 
impunity ; but I would always keep them in a rather shady j 
place, and am always careful, in all cases, to set the pots on a 
thick bed of coal ashes, to keep the worms out of the pots. ] 
Whilst out of doors they must be carefully attended to, and j 
supplied abundantly with soft water. Towards the end of i 
September let the pots be all cleaned, and the plants re¬ 
moved into the greenhouse. Such as are deciduous will now 
be losing their fronds : cut these off, and place the pots under j 
the stages or platforms, but always within sight, and accessible, j 
for they must be kept moderately moist through the winter. | 
I have, I trust, made the culture of greenhouse Ferns under¬ 
stood by these, and my last remarks, and I now proceed to 
fulfil my promise of giving a list of such as will thrive in the 
mild temperature of the greenhouse. 
Aceophoeus hispidus (hairy). New Zealand. New. 
Acrostichum squamosum (squamose or scaly). 
A. brevipes or calloefolium (calla-leaved). 
A. crassinerva (thicknerved). 
A. conforme (like). 
Adiantum Moritzianum (Moritz’s). Very beautiful. 
A. assimile (assimilated). Free to increase. 
A. cuneatum (wedge-shaped). Very useful for bouquets. 
A. setulosum (bristly). Very neat. 
A. affine (nelated). 
A.formosum (handsome). 
A. liispidulum (rather hairy). 
A. pubescens (woolly). Common, but very pretty. 
Alsophila australis (southern). A large Fern. New 1 
and fine. 
A. Capensis (Cape). A tree Fern. Six feet high. 
A. radens (thorny). A tree Fern. Very fine. 
An e midi c T yon fr ax info lium (Ash-leaved). 
A. hirtum (rather spiny). 
A. phyllitidis (long-stalked). 
Asplenium brachypteron (cut-winged). A new neat Fern, 
drooping, and fit for suspending. 
A. caudatum (tailed). Dears an embryo plant at the 
caudate extremity. 
A. lucidum (shining). 
A. dispersum (spread). A neat desirable species. 
A. appendiculatum. A good Fern. 
A. Meccicanum (Mexican). Well suited for a glass case. 
A. axillare (axilled). A drooping, graceful Fern. 
A. monanthemum (one-flowered). Very neat. 
A. ,, proliferum. Plant-bearing variety. 
A. preemorsum (bitten). A fine Fern, suitable for a pe- ; 
destal or a vase. 
A . palmatum (hand-shaped) . 
A. strigillosum (straitened). A new Fern, of great beauty, i 
A. Sliepherdii (Shepherd’s). Very fine. 
A. obtusatum (obtuse). A thick-leaved, handsome Fern. 
A. polyodon (many-tootlied). 
Blechnum occidentale (western). 
Cyetomium falcatum (sickle-shaped). A fine, dark green, 
nearly hardy, Fern. 
Ciieilanthes Sieberi (Sieber’s). A new Fern, well adapted 
for baskets. 
C. lendigera (C. tenuis of gardens). A scarce, very pretty, 
small Fern. 
C. profusa (profuse). Requires to be frequently divided 
and repotted, to keep it healthy and neat. 
Davallia elata (tall). A new and very elegant Fern. 
D. Canariensis (Canary). The well-known Hare's-foot 
Fern. 
T>. bullata (blistered). 
I), dissecta (dissected). There is a dwarf, distinct variety 
of this species in culture. 
D. elegans (elegant). A stout-leaved, fine Fern. 
I) , pentaphylla (five-fingered). Very distinct. 
D. pyxidata (box-like). Thick, shining fronds, of great 
beauty. 
Dicksonia antartica (antartic). The true Tree Fern of 
New Holland. Slow growing, and very handsome. 
Doryopteris palmata (hand-shaped). Very distinct. 
J) . sagittifolia (arrow-liead-shaped). A very striking, liand- 
' some Fern. 
