April  12,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
317 
removing  all  those  in  inconvenient  positions,  such  as  on  the  under  side 
of  branches,  and  on  those  parts  nearest  the  wall  in  wall  trained  trees. 
Disbudding  should  be  a  gradual  operation,  never  removing  too  many 
growths  at  once.  Of  those  growths  which  are  well  placed  a  reduction 
in  number  ought  to  be  gradually  effected,  so  that  the  branches  sub¬ 
sequently  will  not  be  crowded. 
Fruit  Forcing. 
Cucumbers. — The  bright  weather  recently  prevailing  has  resulted  in 
grand  fruit,  though  the  nights  have  been  unusually  frosty,  and  the 
temperature  has  fallen  to  a  correspondingly  low  degree.  Attend  to 
tying  out  the  growths,  stopping  one  or  two  joints  beyond  the  fruit, 
removing  bad  leaves  and  exhausted  growths,  so  as  to  maintain  a 
succession  of  healthy,  fruitful  shoots.  Water  will  be  needed  copiously 
by  plants  in  houses,  and  liquid  manure  once  or  twice  a  week  may  be 
given  with  advantage.  Syringe  the  foliage  and  walls  daily  at  closing 
time  or  about  3.30  p.M.,  and  damp  the  house  well  in  the  morning  and 
evening.  Shade  only  to  prevent  flagging.  The  floor  of  the  house  may 
be  sprinkled  in  the  evening  occasionally  with  liquid  manure,  or 
sweetened  horse  droppings  sprinkled  on  the  bed  will  answer  the  two¬ 
fold  purpose  of  evolving  ammonia  to  the  benefit  of  the  foliage  and 
supplying  nutriment  to  the  soil. 
Plants  in  pits  and  frames  will  hardly  need  shading  as  yet,  but 
they  must  not  be  allowed  to  flag.  Use  tepid  water  through  a  fine-rose 
watering  can  at  about  3  p.m.,  closing  the  lights  at  the  same  time  ;  but 
as  the  nights  are  as  yet  cold,  be  careful  that  the  foliage  becomes  dry 
before  dark.  Close  early,  employ  a  thick  covering,  as  a  double  thickness 
of  mats.  Maintain  a  good  bottom  heat  by  linings,  renewing  them  as 
necessary.  Preserve  a  night  temperature  of  70°,  70°  to  75°  by  day,  80° 
to  85°  or  90°  from  sun  heat,  ventilating  from  75°,  being  careful  to 
avoid  cold  and  drying  currents  of  air,  and  close  sufficiently  early  to  run 
up  to  90°  or  more.  Sow  seeds  of  ridge  varieties,  and  keep  young  plants 
of  these  near  the  glass. 
Melons. — The  fruits  of  the  earliest  plants  are  growing  large,  and 
must  have  the  supports  lowered,  while  those  commencing  to  swell 
should  be  provided  with  them.  Stop  the  laterals  frequently,  and  thin 
them  where  they  are  crowded.  Afford  water  or  liquid  manure  copiously 
to  plants  on  which  the  fruits  are  swelling,  but  avoid  excesses  of  liquid 
manure  or  top-dressings  likely  to  injure  the  roots,  or  the  fruit  in  con¬ 
sequence  of  loss  of  feeders  may  not  finish  satisfactorily.  Plants 
coming  into  flower  should  only  have  water  to  prevent  flagging,  and  a 
drier  atmosphere  is  essential  to  a  good  set,  especially  in  the  case  of 
vigorous  plants. 
Attend  regularly  to  setting  the  blossoms.  Stop  the  shoots  one  joint 
beyond  the  flowers  when  impregnated,  and  after  the  fruits  are  set 
pinch  the  sub-laterals  to  one  leaf,  and  remove  superfluous  growths. 
Avoid  giving  stimulants  to  plants  until  the  fruit  is  swelling,  when 
liquid  manure  may  be  afforded  liberally,  especially  to  plants  carrying 
heavy  crops,  until  they  are  well  advanced  towards  ripening.  Maintain 
a  night  temperature  of  70°,  70°  to  75°  by  day,  and  85°  to  90°  from  sun 
heat,  and  close  early  so  as  to  run  up  to  90°  or  100°.  Ventilate  freely 
in  favourable  weather,  closing  early  with  plenty  of  sun  heat,  when  the 
plants  may  be  syringed  lightly,  except  such  as  are  in  flower.  If 
canker  appear  at  the  collar  rub  it  out  with  quicklime,  repeating  if 
necessary. 
Peaches  and  Nectarines.  —  Earliest  Forced  House.  —  Discontinue 
syringing  when  the  fruit  commences  to  I'ipen,  or  it  will  cause  the  skin 
to  crack  and  impart  an  unpleasant  musty  flavour.  It  is  very  important 
to  have  the  trees  quite  free  from  insects  by  the  time  the  syringing 
ceases.  If  there  be  the  least  trace  of  red  spider  apply  an  insecticide, 
and  follow  shortly  afterwards  with  a  forcible  syringing,  repeating  the 
process  if  necessary,  so  as  to  thoroughly  free  the  trees  from  the  pest. 
It  is  only  the  very  early  varieties  that  will  be  ripening;  the  others 
must  be  well  syringed,  and  have  abundant  supplies  of  water  and  surface 
mulchings  of  short  manure  or  rich  material. 
Second  Early  Forced  House. — Trees  started  at  the  new  year  have 
the  fruit  stoning,  and  will  need  care  in  preventing  checks  from 
sudden  fluctuations  or  depressions,  the  night  temperature  being  kept 
steadily  at  60°,  with  5°  more  on  mild  nights,  whilst  on  cold  nights  it 
may  fall  to  55°,  65°  by  day  in  dull  weather,  70°  to  75°  on  cloudy  days 
but  with  clear  intervals,  ventilating  from  70°,  and  freely  above  75°. 
Attend  to  tying-in  the  shoots  as  they  advance,  and  encourage  no  more 
growths  than  will  be  required  for  future  bearing,  the  extension  of  the 
trees,  and  the  swelling  of  the  current  crop.  The  trees  must  not  lack 
water  at  the  roots,  affording  liquid  manure  if  they  are  heavily  cropped 
and  not  making  satisfactory  growth,  but  avoid  undue  excitement  to 
trees  in  full  vigour,  as  any  impulse  given  to  growth  during  the  stoning 
is  apt  to  affect  the  process  disastrously.  Syringe  twice  a  day  in  bright 
weather,  and  if  necessary  apply  an  insecticide,  it  being  imperative  that 
the  foliage  be  kept  clean. 
Trees  Started  in  Fehruary. — Thinning  should  commence  when  the 
fruits  are  the  size  of  horse  beans,  removing  the  smallest  and  those  on 
the  under  side  or  at  back  of  the  shoots.  Ketain  sufficient  to  admit  a 
further  thinning  when  they  are  the  size  of  marbles,  and  then  only  a 
few  more  need  be  left  than  are  required  for  the  crop,  leaving  those 
that  are  best  situated  for  receiving  air  and  light.  Disbudding  must  not 
be  neglected,  and  laying  in  the  growths  required  for  next  year’s  bearing 
wood  will  need  careful  and  timely  attention.  Syringe  the  trees  twice  a 
day  when  the  weather  is  bright,  occasionally  only  when  dull,  and  let 
the  second  syringing  be  at  closing  time  or  early  in  the  afternoon,  so  as 
to  have  the  foliage  fairly  dry  before  night.  Increase  the  temperature 
to  55°  or  60°  at  night,  60°  to  65°  by  day,  ventilating  from  the  latter, 
and  increasing  with  sun  heat  to  70°  or  75°. 
- -  - 
i‘ —  "  -  — - -  1  .  —  "1  ■ .  ■  ■  *  *  *'  ^ 
o! 
m\\ 
BEE-KEEPER. 
Foreign  Bees. 
Are  foreign  bees  an  advantage  to  bee-keepers  in  this  country 
whose  chief  aim  is  to  obtain  as  large  a  surplu-!  of  honey  as  possible  ? 
We  are  induced  to  ask  this  question  after  having  had  a  wide  experience 
of  the  different  varieties.  We  do  not  favour  them,  for  reasons  which 
will  be  given.  We  recently  visited  an  industrious  bee-keeper  who  had 
numerous  stocks  of  bees,  which  were  in  good  condition  and  managed 
on  the  modern  system ;  he  had  never  kept  any  other  but  natives,  which 
had  always  done  well.  Last  autumn  he  was  advised  to  try  a  change, 
so  ordered  a  Cyprian  queen  from  a  well  known  dealer;  but  the  queen 
arrived  dead.  He  was  disappointed  at  his  first  attempt  in  introducing 
a  foreign  queen  into  his  apiary,  and  intended  trying  again.  We  advised 
him  to  keep  natives  only,  as  they  had  done  so  well  for  him  in  the 
past. 
The  only  reason  given  by  the  majority  of  bee-keepers  for  trying 
one  or  other  of  the  varieties  of  foreign  bees  is  simply  for  a  change. 
After  going  to  the  expense  of  procuring  them  they  find  they  do  not 
obtain  more  honey  than  they  did  previously  with  the  common  blacks. 
It  is  impossible  to  keep  them  pure  in  this  country,  and  they  become 
a  nuisance  when  crossed  owing  to  their  propensity  for  stinging. 
It  is  now  upwards  of  forty  years  since  the  late  Mr.  A.  Neighbour 
introduced  the  Ligurian  or  Italian  bee.  These  came  with  a  great 
reputation  as  honey  gatherers  and  were  suppo  ed  to  have  a  longer 
proboscis,  by  means  of  which  they  could  extract  the  nectar  from  the 
red  Clover.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  tubes  being  Ic  ger  in 
this  variety  than  is  found  in  the  white  Clover,  the  bees  are  unable  to 
work  on  it.  This  fallacy  was  be  ieved  in  for  many  years,  but  it  is  now 
practically  exploded.  This  variety,  as  well  as  the  Cyprian,  is  easily 
distinguished  by  the  bright  yellow  bands  round  the  body,  which 
cause  them  to  be  much  admired.  They  are  easy  to  handle  when  pure 
bred,  and  are  good  tempered.  They  are,  however,  such  inveterate 
swarmers,  that  they  soon  become  crossed  with  our  native  bee  ;  they 
aie  then  known  as  hybrids,  which  are  invariably  g  od  workers,  but 
often  very  vindictive. 
The  Carniolan  is  another  foreign  bee  that  is  not  so  attractive  in 
appearance  as  the  above  ;  they  are  persistent  swarmers  which  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  stop.  We  have  seen  upwards  of  thirty  queen 
cells  in  an  ordinary  hive  at  one  time.  If  the  queen  cells  are  removed 
they  are  soon  replaced  by  others,  and  on  the  first  bright  day  the 
swarm  comes  off,  and  by  the  time  the  swarming  mania  is  over  the 
honey  harvest  is  past.  It  is  theretore  not  advisable  to  import  foreign 
queens  even  for  a  change. 
Our  Native  Bee. 
Our'native  black  or  brown  bees  are  known  throughout  the  country. 
As  a  rule  they  are  quiet  and  easy  to  handle;  of  course  they  will 
protect  their  stores  if  molested.  Every  bee-keeper  knows  there  js  u 
right  time  and  a  wrong  time  for  handling  bees.  II,  for  instance,  it  is 
a  windy  day,  and  the  bees  are  unable  to  venture  far  from  their  hive, 
they  are  bad  tempered,  and  should  not  be  interfered  with.  If,  on  the 
contrary,  the  day  is  bright  and  warm,  and  stores  are  coming  in  freely, 
they  may  be  handled  with  impunity  without  any  danger  of  being 
stung.  They  are  hardy,  and  if  well  supplied  With  stores,  invariably 
winter  well.  They  are  also  good  workers,  and  if  the  weather  is 
favourable,  will  store  a  surplus  if  it  is  possible  to  obtain  it  in  the 
district.  They  are  equally  good  for  either  comb  or  extracted  honey, 
and  what  more  can  be  wished  for  in  any  variety  of  bee  ? 
Another  important  feature  we  have  found  since  we  have  kept  the 
native  bee  as  true  as  it  is  possible  to  keep  them,  is  their  freedom  from 
swarming.  We  now  find  it  possible  to  keep  numerous  colonies  of  bees 
without  the  swarming  mania  spreading  throughout  the  hives.  Man¬ 
agement  may  have  something  lo  do  with  this  satisfactory  state  of 
affairs.  We,  however,  do  not  think  it  possible  to  have  this  freedom 
from  swarming  with  any  other  variety  of  hee. 
It  will  thus  be  seen  that  we  give  a  preference  to  our  native  hee 
when  honey  production  is  the  bee-keepers  chief  aim.  But  as  shown, 
some  of  the  loreign  varieties  are  handsome  in  appearance,  and  may  be 
kept  for  that  reason  alone. — An  English  Bee-keeper. 
