October  17,  1895. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
379 
insecticide,  it  being  good  policy  to  do  this  as  preventive  of  attack.  Keep 
the  house  cool  and  dry,  yet  exclude  severe  frosts. 
Late  Houses. — Excessively  luxuriant  trees  should  be  lifted  and  root- 
pruned  as  advised  above.  Trees  in  unheated  houses  ought  to  be  given  free 
ventilation,  and  when  the  leaves  fall  the  trees  must  be  unloosed  from 
the  trellis.  Have  the  branches  tied  together  in  convenient  bundles,  and 
made  safe  against  frost  with  some  straw  or  fern  over  them,  encasing  the 
bundles  in  mats.  In  heated  houses  this  is  not  necessary,  but  the  trees 
in  those  must  not  be  exposed  to  severe  frosts,  or  they  are  liable  to  be 
injured,  therefore  a  little  warmth  will  be  necessary  in  severe  weather. 
Trees  in  cool  houses  should  have  the  roots,  especially  at  the  collar, 
protected  by  a  covering  of  dry  material. 
THE  KITCHEN  GARDEN. 
Cabbage. — Those  planted  two  or  three  weeks  ago  are  disposed  to 
grow  more  strongly  than  desirable,  the  warmth  of  the  ground  favouring 
this.  Unless  checked  the  chances  are  many  of  the  plants  will  be  badly 
crippled  during  the  winter.  Any  way,  it  is  advisable  to  plant  more  now, 
as  those  last  put  out  will  not  make  much  progress  beyond  becoming 
established  in  the  ground.  The  smaller  varieties,  such  as  Ellam’s  Dwarf 
Spring  and  Wheeler’s  Imperial,  should  be  planted  somewhat  thickly, 
12  inches  apart  in  rows  15  inches  asunder  answering  well. 
Celery. — Ravages  of  the  leaf-mining  maggot  have  been  marked 
everywhere,  and  the  plants  are  not  nearly  so  strong  in  consequence. 
The  Celery  will  not  be  so  good  in  quality,  and  more  than  ordinary  care 
will  have  to  be  taken  of  it,  otherwise  it  will  keep  badly.  During 
November  we  sometimes  experience  severe  frosts,  and  the  final  moulding 
of  the  earlier  rows  ought  not  to  be  delayed  much  longer.  The  stalks 
should  be  surrounded  with  some  of  the  finer  soil,  and  about  one-half  of 
the  leaves  be  buried,  finishing  off  neatly  and  at  a  rather  sharp  angle,  so 
as  to  throw  off  heavy  rains  and  snow.  If  slugs  abound  dust  lime  and 
soot  very  freely  among  the  plants  and  over  the  soil,  according  as  it  is 
moved,  A  start  ought  to  be  made  with  the  moulding  up  of  the  later 
rows. 
Celerlac. — This,  the  Turnip-rooted  Celery,  is  not  sufficiently  hardy 
to  stand  all  weathers.  The  roots  may  either  be  stored  in  cool  sheds  or 
heaps,  or  be  heavily  moulded  over  where  they  are, 
Endive. — Under  ordinarily  good  cultivation  Endive  is  very  strong 
this  season.  That  left  somewhat  thickly  in  the  seed  beds  is  already  well 
closed  up  by  pressing  against  each  other,  and  the  hearts  are  blanching 
beautifully.  Beds  of  Endive  ought  to  be  roughly  protected  by  placing 
strong  stakes  and  boards  round  them  with  cross-bars  to  support  mats, 
strips  of  canvas,  or  other  coverings  whenever  frosts  are  imminent. 
Storing  Endive. — Only  a  moderately  severe  frost  will  damage  the 
points  of  Endive  leaves,  and  rapid  decay  soon  sets  in.  In  order,  there¬ 
fore,  to  be  certain  of  a  continuous  supply  of  well  blanched  hearts 
throughout  the  late  autumn  and  winter  months  protection  must  be 
afforded  the  bulk  of  the  plants  grown.  Frames,  pits,  borders  in 
vineries.  Peach  houses,  and  such  like,  could  all  be  utilised  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  storing  Endive,  as  it  is  only  during  frosty  weather  that  protec¬ 
tion  is  desirable.  Select  a  dry  day  for  the  work,  tie  up  the  plants  to 
facilitate  moving,  lift  with  a  ball  of  soil  about  the  roots  of  each  plant, 
and  move  from  one  place  to  another  on  a  hand  barrow.  Replant  some¬ 
what  closer  than  they  were  outside  in  good  moist  soil,  and  loosen  the 
ties.  Keep  them  in  a  moist  state  at  the  roots,  and  if  fire  heat  cannot 
be  turned  on  when  frosts  are  anticipated  protect  with  mats  and  litter. 
The  Broad-leaved  Batavian  keeps  the  longest ;  but  some  of  this  should 
be  blanched  as  required  for  mixing  with  the  Green  Curled  variety. 
Vacant  Ground. — Weeds  are  very  plentiful  in  places,  and  are 
especially  noticeable  when  the  crops  are  cleared  off.  The  simplest  way 
of  getting  rid  of  them  is  to  turn  them  into  the  ground.  Trenching  may 
well  commence  now,  as  when  thus  early  completed  there  is  good  time 
for  the  ground  to  settle  down  firmly  prior  to  cropping.  Some  ground  is 
improved  by  being  thrown  up  into  ridges  ;  in  other  instances,  merely 
laying  it  up  roughly  answers  best.  Occasionally  more  harm  than  good 
results  from  autumn  or  early  digging,  owing  to  the  soil  “  running  ” 
badly.  Each  cultivator  has  to  discover  what  treatment  best  suits  his 
particular  soil,  and  should  act  accordingly. 
APIARIAN  NOTES. 
Stimulative  Feeding. 
Beginners  are  apt  to  make  mistakes,  but  unfortunately  they 
are  as  often  led  into  them  by  reading  books  not  in  accordance  with 
Nature’s  teaching.  It  has  been  proved  that  when  hives  are 
trimmed  up  in  the  autumn  with  provisions  to  last  till  the  time 
honey  may  be  expected  from  spring  blos.soms  stimulative  feeding 
does  no  good.  I  do  not  deny  that  it  may  at  times  cause  the  queen 
to  deposit  more  eggs  than  she  would  otherwise  do,  but  these  eggs 
are  seldom,  if  ever,  allowed  to  hatch. 
Queen  bees  have  not  an  inexhaustible  store  of  eggs,  prolific  as 
they  are,  nor  can  they  deposit  eggs  continuously.  Any  strain  on 
the  queen  tells  against  her  at  the  time  when  she  may  be  expected 
to  deposit  most  eggs,  while  the  profit  of  the  hive  is  very  often 
reduced,  and  not  unfrequently  is  lost.  Bees  will  tolerate  a  barren 
queen,  or  one  partly  so,  from  September  till  February,  but  after 
that  they  are  liable  to  mutilate  or  kill  her  outright. 
Bees  store  both  pollen  and  honey  for  future  uses,  and  these  are 
sometimes  carried  into  the  hive  in  great  quantities  when  breeding 
had  been  suspended .  Although  the  bees  of  these  hives  are  termed 
by  some  old  bees,  they  are  youthful  enough  to  make  profitable 
hives.  If  stimulative  feeding  could  make  hives  more  advanced 
than  those  unfed  we  should  have  discovered  it  long  before  this  ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  unfed  hives  have  always  been  the  most 
profitable.  To  save  the  queens,  save  the  bees,  and  have  plenty  of 
the  latter  at  the  right  time  should  be  the  endeavour  and  motto  of 
every  bee-keeper. — A  Lanarkshire  Bee-keeper. 
RACES  OF  BEES. 
What  breed  of  bees  is  the  best  ?  Opinions  differ  somewhat  on 
this  question,  as  well  as  other  things,  and  it  is  my  intention  to 
refer  only  to  the  good  and  bad  qualities  of  the  various  races  of 
bees  as  they  appeared  under  my  own  observation. 
Ligurians. 
The  Ligurian,  or  Italian  Alp  bee,  was  the  first  of  the  foreign 
bees  that  were  imported  into  this  country,  which  took  place  about 
the  year  1860.  They  came  with  a  great  reputation  as  honey 
gatherers  ;  their  probosces  were  supposed  to  be  longer  than  the 
black  bee’s,  consequently  they  would  be  enabled  to  obtain  honey 
from  the  Eed  Clover  and  other  flowers  from  which  our  native  bee 
was  debarred  owing  to  the  shortness  of  its  proboscis,  and  for  a 
long  time  there  was  a  great  rage  amongst  the  more  advanced 
bee- keepers.  In  their  pure  state  they  were  good  workers  and 
good  tempered,  and  owing  to  their  handsome  appearance  much 
admired.  The  Ligurian  is  easily  distinguished,  if  of  pure  breed,  by 
three  bright  yellow  bands  on  the  upper  part  of  its  abdomen, 
though  they  vary  very  much  in  colour,  some  being  much  darker 
than  others,  and  showing  the  yellow  bands  in  a  much  less  degree. 
The  difficulty  has  been  to  keep  them  pure  in  this  country, 
although  the  same  may  be  said  of  all  the  foreign  races  of  bees  that 
have  at  different  times  been  imported,  but  when  crossed  with  our 
native  black  bees  they  are  usually  very  spiteful,  and  will  sometimes 
follow  and  attack  a  person  a  long  distance  from  their  hives.  The 
hybrids  are  good  workers,  and  I  may  say  good  stingers,  and  for 
this  reason  they  are  not  favoured  by  the  majority  of  bee-keepers. 
Cyprians. 
These  are  the  most  handsome  of  all  the  bees  with  which  I  am 
acquainted,  and  were  introduced  to  this  country  about  the  year 
1880  by  Mr.  Frank  Benton,  who  spent  both  time  and  money  in 
travelling  through  different  countries  in  his  endeavour  to  discover 
new  races  of  bees.  When  introducing  this  variety  of  bee  he 
described  them  “  as  smaller  and  more  active  than  the  Ligurians, 
exceedingly  prolific,  and  excellent  honey  gatherers,  they  are  the 
bees  for  the  skilled  specialist.”  The  bright  yellow  bands  on  their 
bodies  are  very  prominent.  These  bees  are  not  to  be  recommended 
to  the  general  bee-keeper,  as  they  are  very  irritable,  and  are  even 
worse  in  that  respect  than  the  hybrids  from  the  Ligurians.  Many 
bee-keepers  have  of  late  years  discarded  them  in  favour  of  the 
more  even  tempered  black  or  brown  native  bee. 
Carniolans. 
Carniolans  are  a  variety  of  our  black  bee,  and  were  introduced 
a  few  years  ago  from  Carniola,  in  South-West  Austria.  They 
may  be  distinguished  from  our  native  bee  by  the  bluish  cast  on 
their  bodies,  but  when  crossed  they  are  very  difficult  to  detect. 
They  are  very  even  tempered  and  good  workers,  but,  like  the 
majority  of  the  foreign  bees,  have  rather  a  propensity  for  swarming. 
PUNICS. 
Punics  have  come  under  notice  of  late  years.  They  are  a  black 
bee,  evidently  a  variety  of  Carniolans,  but  are  inveterate  swarmers, 
and  what  is  more  annoying  to  the  bee-keeper  just  in  the  midst  of 
the  honey  flow  than  to  have  all  his  colonies  in  an  uproar  with  the 
swarming  mania?  and  as  the  seasons  are  so  short  there  is  a  great 
loss  of  time  and  energy.  It  is  quite  a  common  thing  to  find  from 
twenty  to  thirty  queen  cells  in  various  stages  of  development  in  a 
hive  at  one  time.  For  this  reason  they  are  not  to  be  recommended, 
although  some  bee-keepers  speak  highly  of  them  as  honey 
producers. 
Natives. 
Black  or  brown  native  bees,  although  some  bee-keepers  imagine 
it  is  not  possible  to  find  these  in  a  pure  state  in  this  country,  owing 
to  so  many  foreign  bees  that  have  been  introduced,  are  pure  enough 
for  all  practical  purposes,  as  under  intelligent  management  they 
will  fulfil  all  the  conditions  required  of  them.  They  are  hardy, 
and  if  proof  is  required  in  this  respect  I  may  point  to  my  own 
apiary  of  over  thirty  stocks  that  came  through  the  last  severe 
