492 
Journal  or  Horticulture  and  cottage  gardeNEH 
June  §,  lSfif. 
The  plants  soon  become  established  and  are  useful  for  various  decorative 
purposes.  Cuttings  of  A.  plumosus  and  tenuissimus  root  freely.  If 
portions  of  the  stem  with  a  leaf  a'tached  are  inserted  in  sandy  soil,  in 
small  pots,  and  stood  under  hand-lights  in  a  warm  house,  every  one  will 
root,  and  by  winter  make  useful  decorative  plants  in  small  pots.  Where 
larger  plants  are  needed  repot  those  that  have  become  too  large  in 
4  and  5-inch  pots. 
Crotons. — Good  heads  that  were  taken  off  some  time  ago  and  are 
well  established  in  5  and  6-inch  pots  may  be  placed  into  larger  before 
they  become  unduly  crowded  with  roots  ;  give  each  plant  room  to 
develop  itself  so  that  they  do  not  become  one-sided.  S.de  shoots  may 
now  te  taken  from  stock  plants  and  rooted  ;  these  root  freely  in  hand- 
lights  in  heat,  if  shaded  from  the  sun,  and  will  make  good  plants  for 
many  forms  of  decoration  by  autumn.  Narrow-leaved  kinds  are  very 
useful  in  a  small  state  for  table  decoration,  and  these  may  be  rooted  in 
quantity,  and  when  placed  into  4  or  5-inch  pots  should  be  grown  on  a 
shelf  close  to  the  glass.  Plants  that  it  is  necessary  to  retain  for  stock 
may,  when  the  cuttings  have  been  removed,  be  cut  close  back  and 
allowed  to  start  from  the  base. 
Dracaenas. — Young  plants  should  be  repotted  as  they  need  more 
root  room.  Those  plants  that  it  is  necessary  to  grow  into  a  larger  size, 
and  which  are  now  in  5  and  6-inch  pots,  should  be  placed  into  larger  as 
soon  cs  they  are  ready.  These  plants  should  be  shaded  for  a  few  hours 
during  the  brightest  and  hottest  part  of  the  day,  or  else  their  foliage  will 
colour  too  lightly. 
ja-ru'-i  -i‘--r?T 
I  HE 
The  Weather. 
Ten  days  of  bright  weather  have  been  very  beneficial  in  the 
apiary,  and  stocks  which  are  headed  by  voting  queens — i.e.,  queens 
which  were  bred  during  the  summer  of  1896,  are  rapidly  improving. 
Many  of  the  more  forward  colonies  are  ready  for  supering.  At 
this  season  one  can  almost  tell  at  a  glance  the  stocks  that  are  headed 
by  young  fertile  queens ;  the  difference  is  so  great  when  compared 
with  those  having  old  worn-out  queens.  There  are  exceptions,  it 
is  true,  but  as  a  rule  queens  are  at  their  best  the  second  season. 
Now  is  the  time  to  make  a  note  of  those  which  are  doing  well,  with 
a  view  to  raising  the  required  number  of  young  queens  next  month. 
It  has  not  been  ideal  bee  weather,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the 
wind  has  been  in  a  northerly  or  easterly  quarter  the  whole  of  the 
time,  a  low  temperature  prevailing  at  night.  The  cold  cutting 
winds,  I  fear,  have  damaged  the  Apple  blossom  which  during  that 
period  has  been  expanded.  The  sun,  though,  has  been  very 
powerful,  necessitated  shade  for  strong  colonies  of  bees.  Although 
the  show  of  bloom  on  the  fruit  trees  has  been  better  than  usual, 
the  Hawthorns,  on  which  the  bees  work  freely,  are  in  marked 
contrast  to  what  they  were  last  year  ;  at  this  time  they  were  a  sheet 
of  bloom,  now  only  a  few  scanty  blossoms  are  to  be  seen. 
The  Horse  Chestnuts,  however,  make  up  for  the  deficiency. 
The  honey,  though  obtained  from  that  source,  is  of  an  inferior 
quality,  and  will  spoil  what  might  otherwise  be  a  good  sample  for 
extracting  purposes.  In  many  districts  Chestnuts  are  very  plen¬ 
tiful,  and  where  such  is  the  case  it  is  useless  attempting  to  obtain 
a  good  simple  of  ran  honey  early  in  the  season.  Partly  for  this 
reason,  and  owing  ti  the  fact  that  there  is  always  a  better  market 
(in  my  experience)  for  run  honey  than  for  sections,  we  only  work 
a  few  hives  for  the  latter,  and  already  the  bees  are  working  freely 
in  the  crates  of  sections  that  have  been  given  to  them. 
Preparing  for  the  Honey  Harvest. 
All  will  depend  on  the  preparations  now  being  made  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  apiary  whether  the  bee- keeper  will  derive  full  benefit 
from  his  bees.  We  cannot  command  fine  bright  weather  just  when 
it  is  necessary  during  the  honey  flow,  but  let  us  endeavour  to 
deserve  success  by  using  every  means  in  our  power  to  have  all  our 
hives  overflowing  with  bees  in  each  locality  when  the  bulk  of  the 
honey  is  to  be  obtained.  How  is  this  to  be  done  ?  It  may  be 
summed  up  in  one  word— M inagement.  Therein  lies  the  whole 
secret  of  success  or  failure  in  bee  keeping. 
Continue  to  give  extra  frames  of  foundation,  or  better  still, 
fully  drawn  out  combs  as  required,  placing  them  next  to  the  outside 
frame  containing  brood.  The  frame  next  to  the  division  board 
usually  contains  stores  and  pollen,  the  latter  being  always  placed 
near  the  brood  nest  for  convenience  of  feeding  the  young  bees.  If 
honey  is  coming  in  freely  a  crate  of  sections  may  be  placed  on  the 
strongest  stocks,  or  if  run  honey  is  required  a  crate  of  shallow 
frames  may  be  used  instead.  By  this  means  the  bee-keeper  is  often 
able  to  obtain  some  early  honey  which  would  otherwise  be  stored 
in  the  brood  nest.  Care  must  be  taken  that  the  hive  is  full  to 
overflowing  with  bees,  otherwise  they  will  not  enter  supers.  But 
there  are  always  some  colonies  in  an  apiary  at  this  season  which  are 
stronger  than  others,  although  all  may  have  received  the  same 
treatment.  Why  this  should  be  the  case  it  is  difficult  to  say,  but  it 
is  probably  owing  to  the  queen  commencing  to  lay  earlier  in  the 
season  than  others. 
Bees  will  invariably  commence  working  in  supers  if  the  brood 
nest  is  restricted,  but  it  is  not  a  plan  to  be  recommended.  It  is, 
however,  an  advantage  to  do  so  if  there  are  no  other  means  of 
obtaining  a  few  early  sections  ;  the  brood  nest  may  afterwards  be 
enlarged  in  time  to  obtain  full  benefit  from  the  late  harvest. 
Hives  that  are  intended  for  extracting  purposes  must  receive 
attention.  Those  which  are  full  of  bees  and  have  no  more  room 
for  extra  frames  may  have  a  frame  or  two  of  hatching  brood,  and 
all  the  adhtring  youDg  bees  removed  and  given  to  a  weak  colony, 
the  empty  space  being  filled  with  foundation  or  combs.  By  this 
means  all  will  be  in  good  condition  to  derive  full  benefit  from  the 
honey  flow  when  it  comes. — An  English  Bee-keeper. 
BEE.  NOTES  FftOM  DEVON. 
The  year  here  has  opened  remarkably  well.  Fruit  blossom  was  very 
plentiful,  which  helped  the  bees  wondeifully  ;  with  the  advent  of  May 
Dearly  all  hives  were  up  to  swarming  point.  I  placed  supers  on  several 
of  my  hives  at  the  latter  part  of  April.  Swarms  were  reported  early  in 
May.  My  first  came  off  on  the  15th,  leaving  a  half  filled  section  on  the 
hive.  On  Thursday  the  20th  I  had  several  well-filled  sections  sealed 
over  ready  to  take  off.  This  is  about  ten  days  later  than  during  the 
Jubilee  year,  1887.  The  heavy  rain  early  in  the  spring  caused  the  grass 
to  grow  very  abundantly,  and  the  Clover  is  wonderfully  thick  ;  with  a 
few  showers  later  on  we  shall  be  reaping  a  glorious  harvest  from  this 
source.  Taking  a  great  interest  in  bee  notes  from  other  places  in  the 
Journal  of  Horticulture,  I  thought  you  would  like  to  know  how  we  were 
faring  in  Devon. — Ambrose  Godsland. 
0S}°  All  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should,  unti 
further  notice,  be  directed  to  “  The  Editor/’  8,  Hose  Hill 
Road ,  Wandsworth,  London ,  S.  W.  It  is  requested  that  no 
one  will  write  privately  to  any  of  our  correspondents,  seeking 
information  on  matters  discussed  in  this  Journal,  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.  If  information  be  desired  on  any  particular  subject  from 
any  particular  authority  who  may  be  named,  endeavour  will  be 
made  to  obtain  it  by  the  Editor. 
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  communications 
which,  for  any  reason,  cannot  be  inserted. 
Carnation  Clip  (77.  A.  D  ). — We  have  received  the  clip,  which 
broke  very  easily  on  the  first  (and,  as  it  proved,  the  last)  application. 
Another  tried  in  the  same  way  did  not  break  under  much  greater 
pressure,  and  you  will  not  be  surprised,  therefore,  that  this  is  preferred. 
Insects  on  Muscat  of  Alexandria  Grapes  (IF.  H.  TF.), — The 
Muscat  of  Alexandria  berries  are  perfectly  clean,  and  evidently  have  set 
grandly  eitner  by  natural  or  artificial  agency,  and  are  a  real  pleasure  to 
behold.  We  searched  very  carefully  for  the  small  insect,  and  were 
about  giving  up  the  scrutiny,  when  we  came  across  a  small  white  thing, 
which  was  only  the  empty  skin  of  an  aphis.  Thpre  was  nothing  else, 
a:  d  it  is  needless  to  say  that  vaporisation  with  XL  All  essence  will, 
indeed  ha  1,  killed  the  pest.  The  precautionary  advice,  “  Muscat  and  Lady 
Downe’s  Grapes  should  not  be  vaporised,”  is  very  desirable,  as  both  have 
been  seriously  injured  in  foliage  in  the  later  stages,  it  acting  on  them 
similarly  to  scorching.  Though  you  fiad  your  “  Muscat  and  Lady 
Downe’s  appreciate  the  vaporising  equally  as  much  as  do  any  other 
Grapes  when  insect  pests  are  present,"  it  is  well  to  bear  the  caution 
in  mind,  as  we  have  found  great  difference  in  the  susceptibility  of  Vines 
at  different  stages  of  their  growth,  this  being  greatest  in  the  varieties 
named  towards  the  close  of  the  stoning  period,  and  even  when  ripening. 
