January  28,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
83 
Antirrhinums. — These  should  be  raised  from  seed  as  advised  in  the 
case  of  Pentstemons,  and,  in  common  with  the  latter,  will  not  prove 
very  showy  if  the  seed-sowing  is  much  longer  deferred  or  the  seedlings 
are  neglected.  Antirrhinums  can  be  had  in  separate  colours,  and  by 
good  treatment  will  make  a  grand  display,  a  dry  season  not  militating 
severely  against  them.  The  best  whites  are  particularly  effective,  and 
serviceable  for  cutting  from. 
Sweet  Peas. — Where  many  cut  flowers  are  required  early  Sweet 
Peas  oueht  always  to  be  raised  under  glass  and  planted  out.  The  newer 
varieties  are  particularly  good  for  cutting,  and  seeing  that  the  seed 
is  dear  and  distributed  in  small  quantities  these,  in  any  case,  ought  not 
to  be  trusted  in  the  open  ground.  Fill  the  requisite  number  of  3-inch 
pots  with  good  loamy  soil,  and  in  each  sow  seven  or  eight  seeds.  These 
germinate  surely  and  quickly  in  gentle  heat,  but  the  plants  ought  soon 
to  be  hardened  and  planted  with  their  balls  of  soil  and  roots  intact 
where  they  are  to  flower.  Rows  or  patches  of  seed  of  the  common 
varieties  may  also  be  sown  in  the  open  at  much  the  same  time  a3  the 
earliest  garden  Peas.  Grow  plenty  of  the  old  white,  and  abundance  of 
a  good  scarlet  variety  is  always  appreciated. 
Mignonette. — Much  that  has  been  advanced  concerning  Sweet  PeaB 
is  also  applicable  to  Mignonette.  Enemies  of  various  kinds  render  it 
next  to  useless  to  sow  seed  early  in  the  open,  but  a  few  dozen  plants, 
raised  in  small  pots  and  planted  in  good  soil  before  they  become  badly 
root-bound,  will  give  off  early  spikes  of  flower,  and  perhaps  keep 
flowering  strongly  all  the  season.  Garraway’s  White  ought  to  be  grown 
everywhere. 
W. 
HEBEE-KEEPER.il 
ST- 1  -■  - '  -  i~--J  -■!  -  r- 1  ■ ,  -i  - '  -r- '  -i  -T-i  -i  - 1  - 1 -i  -  rrrdW-fl^ 
m 
Hives  with  Ten  Standard  Frames. 
It  is  always  pleasing  to  have  a  critic  “  turn  on  the  search  light 
in  a  friendly  spirit,”  a*  reflected  by  “  G.  H.”  (page  63).  This  feeling 
I  reciprocate.  More  light  on  this  subject  will  be  welcomed  by  all 
bee-keepers,  as  it  is  only  by  discussing  the  various  ideas  that 
continually  spring  up  among  the  apiarians  who  are  readers  of  the 
Journal  of  Horticulture  that  we  are  able  to  keep  in  touch  one  with 
the  other.  I  will  at  once  state  that  I  do  not  wish  to  infer  that  the 
system  of  bee  management  advocated  in  these  pages  is  the  only  one 
that  can  be  profitably  adopted  ;  but  having  followed  the  system 
for  many  year*  with  a  fair  amount  of  success  I  have  no  hesitation 
in  recommending  others  to  try  it. 
“  G.  H.”  is  somewhat  difficult  to  follow,  as  in  his  previous 
remarks  (page  619)  he  says,  “  If  we  want  to  take  as  much  surplus 
as  250  lbs.,  and  leave  100  for  stores,  we  must  go  in  for  larger 
hives  now  he  says,  “  30  lbs.  is  sufficient  for  winter  stores.”  One 
is  tempted  to  ask  the  question,  Is  the  former  theory  or  practice  ? 
as  from  his  own  showing  70  lbs.  of  stores  would  be  useless  in  the 
hive.  I  thoroughly  agree  with  this  contention  ;  but  why  create  a 
large  hive  for  holding  stores  that  are  useless?  If  that  amount 
were  stored  in  supers  it  might  be  utilised  in  many  ways.  This  is 
the  great  advantage  of  the  doubling  system,  all  the  honey  that  it  is 
possible  to  obtain  being  secured  in  saleable  form. 
Using  Old  Combs. 
Some  bee-keepers,  including  “G.  H.,”  have  an  objection  to 
using  combs  that  may  at  some  time  or  other  have  been  used  in  the 
brood  nest,  and  contend  that  the  honey  is  not  so  good  as  that 
obtained  from  newly  built  combs  which  never  contained  brood. 
That  this  is  a  fallacy  I  have  not  the  least  doubt.  The  seasons  are 
too  short,  and  the  time  of  the  bees  too  valuable  to  waste  over 
building  new  combs  when  some  good  old  tough  ones  are  at  hand 
that  will  not  break  down  when  passed  through  the  extractor.  New 
combs  require  very  gentle  treatment,  or  they  will  do  so. 
It  does  not  matter  in  the  least  whether  the  combs  are  white  or 
brown  for  extracting  purposes,  the  sample  of  run  honey  will  be  as 
good  from  one  as  the  other.  A  good  stock  of  old  combs  is  the  sheet 
anchor  of  profitable  bee-keeping.  And  to  show  that  I  do  not 
advise  others  to  do  what  I  do  not  practise  myself,  I  may  say  that 
I  have  several  hundreds  in  stock  which  have  all  contained  brood  at 
one  time  or  other.  These  will  all  be  used  for  extracting  purposes 
in  due  course.  The  sample  of  honey  will  be  as  good  in  colour  and 
flavour  as  from  newly  made  combs.  The  plan  I  follow  is  a  great 
saving  of  labour  to  the  bee*,  which  anyone  may  prove  for  himself, 
by  giving  them  guide  combs  or  full  sheets  of  foundation,  and  note 
the  result. 
If  full  sheets  of  foundation  are  required  annually  it  would  prove 
a  serious  item  of  expenditure  in  a  large  apiary.  In  contrast  to  this 
place  an  empty  brood  comb  over  a  strong  colony  in  the  height  of 
the  season,  and  see  how  soon  they  will  have  it  cleaned  and  ready 
for  storing  honey.  But  if  we  want  “  honeycomb  of  spotless  white¬ 
ness  ”  then  new  combs  must  always  be  used ;  if  they  are  at  all 
discoloured  the  cappings  will  not  be  white,  and  will  then  be  only 
third-rate  in  quality.  It  will  not  be  the  honey  that  will  be  affected, 
only  the  comb.  The  honey  will  be  found  to  be  equal  in  quality 
to  that  obtained  from  white  combs. 
System  in  Bee-keeping. 
In  bee-keeping  it  is  an  advantage  to  work  on  certain  lines,  and 
have  a  system  in  managing  all  the  details  pertaining  to  the 
industry.  I  recommend  the  standard  frame  because  it  is  now  well 
known,  and  is  generally  recognised  throughout  the  country.  This 
simplifies  matters  when  speaking  or  writing  of  a  frame  hive. 
It  is  of  little  consequence  whether  the  frames  are  2  or  3  inches 
deeper  or  longer,  quite  as  good  results  will  probably  follow  by 
either  ;  but  if  good  results  can  be  obtained  from  a  recognised 
size  such  as  the  standard  frame  (and  I  contend  that  there  can)  it 
is  much  better  to  keep  to  the  one  size  than  for  no  two  bee-keepers 
to  have  their  frames  alike. 
The  system  advocated  of  confining  the  queen  to  ten  frames  and 
•upering  with  frames  of  the  same  *ize  or  shallow  frames,  now 
much  used  by  some  bee-keepers,  or  by  crates  of  sections,  one  and 
all  have  the  same  effect  on  the  colony.  The  bees  will  not  store 
their  surplus  honey  in  the  brood  nest  if  ample  space  is  provided  in 
■upers.  I  have  often  had  sixty-three  sections  on  a  strong  colony 
of  ten  frames  at  one  time.  These  require  to  be  well  finished 
before  removal.  With  standard  frames  for  extracting  it  is 
different.  If  three  parts  of  the  cells  are  sealed  over  it  will  be  ripe 
enough  for  extracting. 
It  would  be  an  advantage  if  correspondents  would  state  the  *iza 
of  their  frames  and  hives  when  speaking  of  large  hive9,  as  the  hive 
mentioned  by  “  G.  H.”  as  containing  “twelve  frames  20  inches 
by  8J  inchei  ”  is  not  so  large  as  the  hive  he  condemns  when 
doubled.  The  latter  system,  too,  provides  a  ready  means  of  raising 
young  queens,  without  which  no  apiary  can  be  successful. 
“  G.  H.”  cannot  be  serious  when  he  assumes  that  it  was  owing 
to  the  hive  having  standard  frames  in  the  same  apiary  as  the  above 
that  no  surplus  was  stored.  The  cause  may  be  summed  up  in  one 
word — “  Management.” — An  English  Bee-keeper. 
[Referring  to  the  above,  it  may  be  interesting  to  readers  of 
the  Journal  of  Horticulture  if  “  G.  H.”  would  state  the  dimensions 
of  his  large  hives,  and  his  system  of  working  them  for  run  honej, 
as  the  hive  recommended  by  “An  English  Bee-keeper”  when 
doubled  for  extracting  purposes  holds  twenty  frames  if  required, 
which  is  large  when  compared  with  many  hive*.] 
Honey  and  Hives. 
I  am  sending  off  to  you  a  sample  of  honey.  The  section  has 
been  one  in  the  number  that  have  taken  three  prizes,  the  first  at 
Howden,  also  the  first  at  Goole,  and  the  second  at  the  Great  York¬ 
shire.  The  candied  honey  has  taken  two  prizes  in  strong  competition. 
I  have  found  large  hives  far  the  best.  I  have  the  friendliest  feeling" 
for  “An  English  Bee-keeper,”  and  should  like  to  pay  him  a  visit, 
and  to  have  a  return  visit  from  him  to  compare  notes. — S.  Remmer, 
Knedlington  Manor. 
[The  sample  of  honey  in  the  comb  is  excellent  in  colour  and 
consistency,  while  the  flavour  i*  good.  Unfortunately  the  section 
was  smashed,  but  enough  remained  to  show  that  it  was  well 
finished,  the  cappings  being  thin,  honey  of  good  colour,  and  in 
admirable  condition  for  present  use,  thus  showing  that  the  honey 
was  well  ripened  before  its  removal  from  the  hive,  and  had  since 
been  kept  in  a  suitable  temperature  which  had  prevented  granula¬ 
tion.  This  is  a  fact  that  should  always  be  kept  in  mind,  when  honey 
becomes  candied  in  the  comb  (usually  caused  by  being  stored  in  too 
low  a  temperature)  it  is  useless  for  table. 
The  granulated  sample  is  also  of  excellent  quality  (evidently 
collected  from  white  Clover),  being  of  good  colour  and  fine  in  the 
grain.  The  aroma  is  Dot  so  pronounced  as  in  some  samples  we 
have  tasted,  but  the  sample  is  highly  creditable  for  the  season. 
The  “  get  up  ”  of  both  samples  is  good,  the  section  being  double 
glassed  with  lace  paper  edging,  which  give*  it  a  very  neat  appear¬ 
ance,  and  also  protects  the  comb  from  damage. 
The  run  honey  was  put  in  a  screw-top  white  glass  jar,  and 
neatly  labelled  “  Pure  Honey.”  We  think  it  would  be  an  advantage 
if  all  bee-keepers  would  label  their  produce  “Pure  English  Honey,” 
with  their  name  and  address  ;  this  would  be  a  guarantee  of  its 
purity.] 
American  Fruit  in  Vienna. — Apples  and  Pears  from  the  United 
States  and  Canada  have  been  selling  on  the  Vienna  market,  the  first 
at  from  53.  to  8d.,  and  the  latter  from  3d.  to  Is.  per  kilog.  The 
quality  is  good,  the  exporters  fully  understanding  that  only  good 
wares  would  sell  at  a  profit.  The  fruit  growers  of  Great  Britain  are 
therefore,  says  a  contemporary,  not  alone  in  experiencing  the  com¬ 
petition  of  the  American  in  the  home  markets.  This  may,  this 
season,  have  been  enhanced  by  the  enormous  fruit  crop  of  excellent 
quality  harvested  in  America,  accentuated  by  the  Binallness  of  the  crops 
on  the  Continent. 
