April  8,  1897. 
304  JOURNAL  OP  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
m 
|HE  BEE-KEEPERS 
HWbr  - 1  ■  i  •  r-T- 1  - 1  -  i  - 1  ■  i  -t  vr-  i,  i  - 1  -~i  ■  i  -  t  - 1- 1  -,  - 1  - 1  - 1 «  r^i  ^  irBM 
SEASONABLE  NOTES. 
The  influence  ol  wet  weather,  when  accompanied  with  a  low 
temperature,  is  most  detrimental  to  bees  at  this  season,  and  the 
past  month  has  been  unsatisfactory  from  a  bee-keeper’s  point  of 
view.  High  winds  and  cold  showers  of  snow,  hail,  and  rain  have 
prevailed  throughout  the  month.  The  total  rainfall  was 
2- 53  inches,  which  fell  on  twenty  days.  Only  on  a  few  occasions, 
during  short  spells  of  sunshine,  have  the  bees  been  able  to  venture 
far  from  their  hives,  thas  showing  the  great  advantage  derived 
from  having  early  producing  pollen-bearing  plants  within  a  short 
distance  of  the  apiary.  The  bees  are  then  able  to  obtain  all  that  is 
necessary  from  a  natural  source.  This  is  a  much  better  plan  than 
supplying  them  with  artificial  pollen,  but  there  are  many  bee¬ 
keepers  who  are  not  able  to  utilise  the  most  useful  plants  and  trees 
for  the  future  requirements  of  their  bees.  It  is  then  an  absolute 
necessity  to  supply  artificially,  as  stocks  will  make  little  headway 
unless  pollen  is  comiug  in  freely. 
Pea  meal  or  ordinary  Wheat  flour  makes  a  capital  substitute. 
The  best  plan  is  to  place  it  in  the  open  air  daily  when  the  bees  are 
on  the  wing.  If  placed  in  a  vessel  containing  a  few  shavings,  to 
which  the  bees  may  be  enticed  with  a  little  liqaid  honey  or  thin 
syrup,  they  will  take  it  readily  ;  or  if  a  small  quantity  is  dropped 
into  some  fully  expanded  flowers  which  bees  frequent,  it  is  sur¬ 
prising  how  rapidly  they  will  clear  it  out  and  carry  it  to  their 
hives. 
Bees  on  the  whole  are  very  backward,  and  unless  a  change 
soon  set  in  they  will  not  be  in  a  good  condition  for  the  fruit 
blossoms.  This  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  when  one  takes  into  con¬ 
sideration  the  wet  weather  experienced  throughout  the  country 
during  the  past  six  months.  The  first  three  months  of  last  year 
was  in  marked  contrast  to  the  present  season.  The  rainfall  being 
light,  fine  weather  prevailed,  bees  were  daily  on  the  wing,  and 
stocks  increased  raDidly  ;  but  owing  to  a  cold  spring  and  a  dry 
summer  it  was  not  a  good  honey  year  (except  in  a  few  favoured 
localities),  showing  that  however  good  the  early  months  of  the  year 
may  be,  ail  will  depend  on  the  weather  and  the  condition  of  the 
bees  when  the  honev  flow  comes. 
An  early  harvest  cannot  be  expected  this  year,  as  many  of  the 
stocks  have  less  bees  now  than  they  had  a  month  ago.  Should  a 
favourable  change  in  the  weather  set  in  colonies  headed  by  young 
fertile  queens  will  increase  at  a  rapid  rate,  and  will  doubtless  soon 
make  up  for  lost  time. 
Spring  Dwindling. 
To  guard  against  this  it  is  advisable  to  know  the  condition  of 
each  individual  stock.  If  each  hive  is  numbered,  as  has  been  often 
advised  in  these  pages,  it  is  a  simple  matter  to  make  a  note  as  to 
their  requirements,  and  due  attention  given  to  them,  as  spring 
dwindling  is  frequently  caused  through  shortness  of  stores ;  and 
with  the  advent  of  April  it  is  quite  safe  to  feed  with  thin  syrup  in 
preference  to  candy,  as  however  carefully  the  latter  may  be  made 
there  is  always  a  certain  amount  of  waste  in  connection  with  its 
use.  The  bees  will  abstract  the  moisture  from  a  portion  of  it  and 
carry  the  dry  pieces  of  sugar  that  remain  out  of  the  Live.  But 
with  syrup  there  is  no  waste,  though  it  is  not  advisable  to  use  it  at 
midwinter. 
Thin  syrup,  for  spring  feeding,  may  be  made  in  the  proportion 
of  1  lb.  of  sugar  to  a  pint  of  water,  boil  until  the  sugar  is  dissolved, 
and  it  will  be  ready  for  use  ;  a  pinch  of  salt  and  a  spoonful  of 
vinegar  stirred  into  it  will  be  an  advantage.  The  bee-keeper’s  aim 
should  be  to  keep  the  bees  as  warm  as  is  possible.  By  using  a 
float-feeder  on  the  top  of  the  hive  it  is  almost  impossible  to  prevent 
an  escape  of  heat  from  the  brood  nest,  and  for  this  reason  it  is 
advisable  to  use  a  bottle-feeder  for  some  time  to  come  ;  the  tem¬ 
perature  of  the  hive  will  then  not  be  interfered  with.  Have  an 
rdinary  honey  jar,  and  partly  fill  it  with  warm  syrup,  and  tie  a 
'  oe  of  muslin  tightly  over  the  mouth  ;  cat  a  hole  the  same  size 
tu.  jjgh  the  quilt,  and  insert  a  piece  of  perforated  zinc  to  prevent 
the  bees  escaping  whilst  the  bottle  is  being  refilled  ;  invert  it  over 
the  aperture,  and  cover  with  several  thicknesses  of  old  c  rpet  or 
similar  material,  and  the  bees  will  take  it  readily,  and  if  continued 
until  the  natural  supplies  are  coming  in  freely  little  spring 
dwindling  will  take  place,  although  it  is  very  prevalent  where 
careful  attention  is  not  given  to  the  bees. 
Open  Air  Feeding. 
This  is  an  easv  way  of  keeping  the  bees  supplied  with  stores 
during  favourable  weather  at  this  season,  but  it  is  only  recom¬ 
mended  when  there  are  no  other  bees  in  the  district,  or  when  the 
bee-keeper  does  not  mind  his  neighbour’s  bees  having  a  share  with 
his  own.  I  often  practise  it,  and  the  bees  will  take  it  freely  if 
placed  near  their  hives.  It  has  the  advantage,  too,  of  being 
little  trouble.  A  few  shallow  saucers  are  required  into  which 
are  placed  a  few  shavings  or  thin  strips  of  wood  to  prevent  the 
bees  being  drowned.  These  are  put  within  a  few  yards  of  the 
hives,  and  filled  with  thin  syrup  as  often  as  required.  It  is  not 
advisable  to  do  this  too  early  in  the  season,  or  it  will  encourage 
robbing,  but  after  this  date  I  have  nf>t  been  troubled  in  that 
respect. 
In  large  apiaries,  which  are  isolated  in  the  country  from  other 
bees,  or  in  solitary  hives  in  country  gardens,  I  can  strongly  recom¬ 
mend  this  plan  where  bee#  are  at  all  short  of  stores.  However 
carefully  stocks  of  bees  may  be  fed  in  the  autumn  there  will  be 
some  that  require  feeding  at  .his  season. — An  English  Bee¬ 
keeper, 
'  TRADE  CATALOGUES  RECEIVED. 
G.  Bunyard  &  Co.,  Maidstone. — Herbaceous  Plants. 
W.  Clibran  &  Sons,  Altrincham.— ’General  Catalogue. 
F.  R.  Pierson  &  Co„  Tarrytown-on-Hudson,  New  York.— Seeds  and 
Plants. 
F.  E.  Young,  Rochester,  New  York,  U.S.A, — General  Trie  List. 
•  •  All  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should  be 
*  directed  to  “  The  Editor.’’  Letters  addressed  to  members  of 
the  staff  ofter  remain  unopened  unavoidably.  We  request  that 
no  one  will  write  privately  to  any  of  our  correspondents,  as 
doing  so  subjects  them  to  unjustifiable  trouble  and  expense,  and 
departmental  writers  are  not  expected  to  answer  any  letters  they 
may  receive  on  Gardening  and  Bee  subjects,  through  the  post. 
Correspondents  should  not  mix  up  on  the  same  sheet  questions 
relating  to  Gardening  and  those  on  Bee  subjects,  and  should 
never  send  more  than  two  or  three  questions  at  once.  All 
articles  intended  for  insertion  should  be  written  on  one  side  of 
the  paper  only.  We  cannot,  as  a  rule,  reply  to  questions 
through  the  post,  and  we  do  not  undertake  to  return  rejected 
communications. 
Rose  Cups  and  Tubes  (A.  M.  M  ). — The  cups  and  tubes  used  by 
the  members  of  the  National  Rose  Society  is  Foster’s,  which  may  be  pro¬ 
cured  from  any  horticultural  dealers.  The  patentee  is  Mr.  Foster, 
Ashford,  Kent. 
Dimensions  of  a  Tennis  Court  (  E.  R  ).— The  following  are  the 
measurements  : — Extreme  length,  78  feet ;  width,  36  feet  ;  inner  court, 
42  feet  long,  27  feet  wide,  divided  lengthways  by  a  white  line  and  cross- 
ways  by  a  net.  Your  rough  sketch  is  correct. 
Chrysanthemums  from  Suckers  (Y.  H.  H.').  —  The  healthy 
suckers  with  roots  attached,  if  potted,  placed  in  a  frame,  judiciously 
watered  and  shaded  for  a  time  to  prevent  the  leaves  flagging,  will,  under 
good  management,  make  useful  decorative  plants  in  the  autumn.  If 
you  have  in  view  exhibition  blooms,  such  plants  cannot  be  expected  to 
produce  them  “  as  well  as  if  cuttings  were  taken  at  the  proper  time.” 
The  ftfew  Vegetable  “  Chayote  ”  (Mrs.  M.,  Wimbledon).— We 
have  been  successful  in  discovering  the  botanical  name  of  this  perhaps 
over-extolled  vegetable  through  the  great  seed  firm  of  Messrs.  Vilmorin 
and  Co.,  Paris,  and  as  we  have  seen  the  vegetable  grown  in  England 
and  tasted  its  “fruit,”  as  that  is  the  part  eaten,  we  hope  to  reproduce 
an  illustration  of  it  in  an  early  issue.  It  has  another  fanciful  name  in 
England. 
Orchid  Book — Microscope  (A.)  — “  Orchids  :  their  Culture  and 
Management.”  by  Mr.  W.  Watson  of  Kew,  is  an  excellent  work.  The 
publisher  is  L.  Upcott  Gill,  S  rand,  London.  “  Burberry’s  Orchid  Book,” 
published  by  Blake  &  Mackenzie,  Water  Lane,  Liverpool,  is  lower  in 
price  and  thoroughly  reliable.  Write  to  Messrs.  Negretti  &  Zambra, 
Holborn  Circus,  London  ;  or  Messrs.  Newton  &  Co.,  Strand,  London, 
respecting  microscopes. 
Saddle  Boiler  for  Heating  Hot- water  Pipes  ( Constant  Reader ). 
— We  suppose  you  propose  having  a  plain  saddle  boiler.  To  heat  700  feet 
of  4-inch  piping  satisfactorily  the  boiler  ihould  be  42  inches  long, 
18  inches  wide  and  deep  inside  arch,  or  48  inches  long,  16  inches  wide 
and  deep  inside  arch,  as  you  may  have  setting  room  foT  a  short  or  long 
boiler  ;  waterway  2  inches.  If  a  terminal  end  saddle  boiler,  which  is 
best  for  piping  over  300  feet,  36  inches  long,  width  (inside  arch)  and 
depth  16  inches,  waterway  usually  2  inches,  but  that  is  not  material, 
and  is  best  left  to  the  makers.  The  heating  power  is  760  feet  of  4-inch 
piping,  better  too  much  than  too  little. 
