THE GARDENING WORLD 
February 11, 1888. 
380 
THE APIARY. 
Bees : Tueir Work in the Garden, and Profit¬ 
able Management. —III. 
If our object is to have run honey rather than honey in 
the comb, as obtained by the use of the supers, perhaps 
the best way to obtain it is by what is termed doubling, 
that is, the placing of another hive the same size and 
dimensions as the one already described, and containing 
the bar frames. From the hive we intend to double 
we would take two bar frames containing young brood, 
and put in the hive we purpose placing on the top ; 
then fill the remaining space with bar frames contain¬ 
ing comb foundation, and replace the two taken out 
having young brood by two with foundations. Then 
place the hive thus prepared on the top of the stock hive. 
The bees will at once take to the combs thus placed 
over the stock hive, and should the season be favourable 
soon fill them with honey. 
Here comes in the usefulness of the honey extractor, 
the different forms of which are so well known as to re¬ 
quire no description from me here. As the combs get 
filled with honey they can be taken from the hive, un¬ 
capped, put in the extractor, the honey taken from 
them, and the empty combs returned for the bees to 
fill again. This way of depriving bees of their work is 
more adapted for stock hives than for swarms the first 
season. By this means, in a favourable summer, enor¬ 
mous quantities of honey may be taken from a hive. 
The largest amount I can find on record, as taken from 
one colony of the bees in a season, is 296i lbs. This 
may seem an unreasonable quantity, but it is well 
authenticated. 
The honey can be drawn off from the extractor,- and 
placed in jars ready for market or home use. In 
removing supers, choose a fine day (about mid-day is 
the best time), damp a cloth with carbolic acid, and 
spread it over the top of the supers, allowing it to 
remain for about ten minutes. This will drive the 
bees down into the stock-hive. The supers can then be 
lifted off, and should any bees remain, brush them off 
the sections with a feather. Should the bees be in¬ 
clined to sting, a few puffs of smoke from the smoker 
will soon render them quiet and easily handled. The 
smoker, if j udiciously manipulated, is a most important 
article in the apiary. If, after removing the supers, 
we find a plentiful supply of honey in the bar-frames, 
we may with safety remove four and extract the honey, 
returning the empty comb to the hive, and replacing 
the quilts on the top of the frames. 
Feeding. 
Keep a sharp look-out during September to see that 
each hive has enough food to carry it through the 
winter ; if not feed with syrup. A good food for 
autumn consumption consists of 10 lbs. loaf-sugar, 5 
pints water, -J oz. salt, a table-spoonful of vinegar, and 
2 ozs. salyeilic acid solution. It is most essential that 
all feeding should be done by October ; but should 
they require winter nourishment, that is best adminis¬ 
tered by placing sugar-candy under the quilt. For 
spring feeding we may use 7 pints of water instead of 
5 pints, as in autumn. The bees at that time use the 
food instead of storing it up for winter use. 
Preparing for 'Winter. 
About the beginning of October will be the time to see 
that they are made secure for winter. Each hive 
should have from 20 lbs. to 30 lbs. of sealed stores. 
Remove the frames that the bees do not cover, and 
shift the dummy board close up to the comb left. 
Place two or three quilts on top, and fill the empty 
space round the hive with chaff, putting 4 ins. or 
5 ins. over the top of the quilts ; this will keep them 
right for the winter. Cold at that time affects bees 
but little, though damp must be rigidly guarded 
against. See that all top covers are waterproof. 
The worst disease we have to contend against among 
bees is foul brood. That I have cured by the use of 
salyeilic acid solution. After discovering what was 
wrong with them I removed all the bar-frames, and 
sprayed them with the solution, taking away all un¬ 
necessary frames and using the solution plentifully in 
feeding. I have now got rid of it, which two years ago 
threatened to exterminate my stock. 
Races. 
We have great differences of opinion as to which is the 
best race of bees to keep. Some have now adopted the 
common black bee in preference to all the other in¬ 
troduced sorts ; and I think they are right. The 
Italian bee, if it could be kept true, may possibly be a 
better working kind; but, except with experts, it is 
difficult to keep true, and a cross I consider is inferior 
to the true breed, and not so good as the common black 
bee. To those who may have the black bee, and wish 
to try the other new kinds introduced, such as the 
Italian, Cyprian, Syrian, and Carniolan, I would say, 
be contented with what you have. It is only a question 
of understanding their wants, and supplying them, to 
make them a profitable speculation ; and no one could 
wish for a more interesting hobby than what the bee 
furnishes. There are some things I should have liked to 
have touched upon, but in a paper like this something 
must be left out ; yet I trust there has been enough 
said to interest you in the work of the bee.— Alexcuider 
Wright. __ 
ORCHID NOT ES AND GLEANINGS. 
L/ELIA BELLA. 
The third plant of a batch of three seedlings that have 
been raised out of one seed pod is now in flower at the 
establishment of Messrs. J. Yeitch & Sons, at Chelsea. 
It is a bi-generic hybrid, according to the accepted 
description and classification of the botanist, and was 
the result of a cross between Lselia purpurata and the 
old variety or original form of Cattleya labiata, 
exhibiting characters intermediate between the two 
parents. The pseudo-bulbs are comparable to those of 
C. labiata ; while the warm rosy sepals and petals take 
after the same parent, both in colour and size. The 
large and magnificently-coloured labellum partakes of 
the character of Lfelia purpurata. The upper portion 
is of a rich intense crimson-purple, the colour becoming 
most intensified towards the base, where it constitutes 
a striking contrast to the white throat or upper portion 
of the tube. The latter is beautifully striated with 
purple and gold, as in the Laelia mentioned. The 
seeds were sown in 1874, so that the plant now 
flowering for the first time is exactly fourteen years 
old. What patience, to wait so long for a plant to 
flower ! 
Aerides vandarum. 
The general aspect of this Orchid is so different from 
that of other species of Aerides generally, that few 
would take it to be one at first sight. The habit of 
growth is likewise so different, that it requires, if not 
separate cultural treatment, at least a different method 
of growing it. Instead of the dwarf leafy stems with 
which we are familiar, that organ becomes greatly 
elongated and slender, bearing its long, cylindrical, 
rod-like leaves widely apart. Although in a broad 
sense, the stems and leaves may be compared with those 
of Vanda teres, yet the former does not stand erect, 
but throws out roots that cling to some such support as 
a Tree-Fern stem. The flowers are produced in pairs 
on stalks opposite the leaves, aTe comparatively of 
large size, and pure white with the exception of a 
pinkish tint on the spur and the column. The three- 
lobed labellum is again divided in its principal parts, so 
that it presents the peculiar anomaly of being six lobed. 
It is certainly a peculiar and by no means common 
species, and is neither uninteresting nor devoid of 
ornament. A flowering specimen may be seen at 
present in the establishment of Mr. William Bull at 
Chelsea. __ 
The Gardeners’ Calendar. 
THE STOVE. 
Allamandas and Clerodendrons. —If these were 
pruned back and put into heat, as previously advised, 
they should now be ready to pot off, if the process has 
not already been completed. Most of these naturally 
rampant growing subjects are strongly inclined to 
develop a few strong shoots only when they have been 
hard cut back. If so, pinch them several times in 
order to get the requisite number of shoots, training 
them as it becomes necessary. Clerodendron fallax is 
too good and useful a plant in the conservatory towards 
autumn to be neglected. If small subjects are the 
greatest desideratum, make a sowing of seeds now ; or 
if there is a sufficient stock of last year’s plants, they 
should first of all be cut down and induced to start, 
afterwards potting into good compost. 
Gardenias and Stephanotis. — These are now 
rapidly pushing into flower ; but before this takes 
place, see that they are free from insect pests, especially 
mealy-bug. After the flowers expand it is more difficult 
to eradicate the enemy without destroying the flowers. 
Fir tree oil is a safe insecticide, and certainly the best 
to put into the hands of an inexperienced beginner. 
Paraffin oil may, however, be used if the plants are 
very dirty, mixing well before use. Give weak doses of 
liquid manure two or three times a week during the 
expansion of the flowers, and beneficial results will 
follow. Stephanotis in pots may be retarded and even 
induced to flower more freely by placing them in a 
lower temperature and partly withholding water for a 
time. 
Seed Sowing. —The main batches of tuberous-rooted 
Begonias and Gloxinias may now be sown in pans in a 
compost of peat and leaf-soil, with a liberal quantity of 
sand, and a small quantity of finely sifted loam to give 
the whole a little body or firmness. "Water down 
fifteen or twenty minutes before sowing the seed, to 
settle the soil, and cover the seeds very lightly. 
Lobelias of the Queen Victoria type having coloured 
foliage should be sown immediately where not already 
done, together with those of the bedding type, such as 
single Dahlias, Golden Feather, Grevillea robusta, and 
various other bedding plants that grow slowly, and 
require a long time to establish themselves before 
planting out. 
The Temperatures for the Stove at this 
period of the month need not exceed that of the 
last unless the weather be more propitious than it has 
been lately. _ 
THE GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 
Lilium auratum and other Bules. —Carefully look 
over the bulbs in the store pits under ashes, and see 
that they do not get overdrawn. Nothing tends to 
weaken them so much as imperfect exposure to light 
when making their growth. Remove all such as are 
well above the soil into light airy positions. Success- 
ional batches of them transferred into warmer quarters 
in this way prolongs the season of bloom, and regulates 
the quantity in bloom at any one time. 
Cape Bulbs. —As these come into flower, remove to 
the conservatory, or other place where a genial tem¬ 
perature is kept up, so as to maintain them in a 
flowering condition. This refers to Ixias, Sparaxis, 
Babianas, and that deliciously sweet-scented subject, 
Freesia refracta, and its white or other varieties. 
Hyacinths, Tulips, Narcissi, and similar things should 
be transferred to the show house just when in bloom or 
about to expand. _ 
THE FORCING HOUSES. 
Vineries. —If not already done, the Muscat house 
should now be closed preparatory to forcing them. A 
temperature of 45° at night, 50° by day or 60° by sun 
heat, may be used to start them, or even a few degrees 
higher now that the season is pretty well advanced. 
Syringe the rods pretty frequently during bright 
weather in order to encourage the development of the 
buds. In the case of the earlier houses ventilate freely, 
when the weather permits, to keep the shoots strong 
and firm, as well as to give consistency to the foliage. 
Peach Houses. —Before the trees in the second 
early house come into bloom, the house should be 
fumigated in order to destroy any fly that may have 
made its appearance, as this cannot be done with 
safety after the expansion of the bloom without injuring 
it. When the flowers are expanded, frequently tap the 
stems and branches to insure the dispersion of the 
pollen, and the setting of the fruit. 
Cucumbers and Melons. —While the young seed¬ 
lings are gaining strength on a shelf near the glass, 
prepare fermenting material where the temperature is to 
be kept up by that means. Also prepare soil for the 
beds and mounds when a regular forcing pit is intended 
for their reception, as well as soil for those to be grown 
in pots. Allow the soil for whichever purpose intended 
to become heated up to the proper temperature before 
planting out the seedlings, otherwise they will be 
checked, and perhaps killed or permanently injured. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Ground for Crops. —If advantage has been taken 
of the frosty weather of last week, all the necessary 
manure should be on the ground, and no time should 
be lost in getting the trenching done for all main crops 
of Peas, Beans, Potatos, Onions, seed beds, and the 
like. 
Mulching Strawberries. — Before putting on a 
thick layer of rank stable litter, the roughest of the 
weeds—such as Docks, Dandelions, Couch, or anything 
of that nature, as well as accumulations of old leaves on 
the plants themselves—should be removed. If the soil 
be light, merely hoe it; but if retentive, fork it over 
carefully, and then apply a heavy mulching, such as 
will benefit the plants in dry weather. The litter will 
also have time to bleach and become clean before the 
fruit is ripe by putting it on thus early. 
