February  8,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
113 
Sowing  Onions. — Raising  a  few  or  many  plants  undet  glass,  duly 
hardening  and  planting  out,  is  the  surest  way  of  having  large  well- 
raatured  Unions,  either  for  exhibition  or  for  storing.  Any  of  the  White 
Spanish  type  are  suitable  for  the  purpose,  giving  the  preference  to  the 
extra  line  show  sorts  if  prizes  are  desired.  Sow  the  seeds  thinly  iii  boxes 
of  fine  moderately  rich  soil,  and  place  in  gentle  heat  to  germinate.  Keep 
the  young  plants  sturdy  by  exposing  them  to  light  and  sunshine,  hardening 
them  surticiently  for  planting  in  the  open  ground  early  in  April. 
Large  Leeks. — If  these  are  wanted  for  exhibition  in  August  or 
September  sow  seed  of  a  large  variety,  and  treat  exactly  as  advised  in  the 
case  of  Onions.  Plants  obtained  in  this  way  are  not  liable  to  run  to  seed 
prematurel3%  whereas  autumn-raised  jilants  are  given  to  “boiling.” 
Early  Celery.— JiUte  in  .January  or  early  in  February  is  a  good  time  to 
sow  seed  with  a  view  to.  having  extra  early  “sticks,”  but  it  must  be 
remembered  that  these  plants  are  liable  to  liolt  in  the  autumn.  Not  much 
seed  should  therefore  bo  sown  now,  mure  reliance  lieing  placed  on  plants 
raised  a  month  or  si.x  weeks  later.  The  white-stalked  varieties  are  the 
best  for  present  sowing,  as  these  can  bo  blanched  ready  for  use  more 
quickly  than  the  pink  or  red-stalked  sorts.  Sow  seeds  nearly  or  quite  on 
the  surface  of  pans  of  fine  soil,  place  in  a  brisk  moist  heat,  cover  with 
squares  of  glass,  shade  heavily,  and  keep  the  soil  uniformly  moist  till  the 
seed  germinates,  when  the  shading  should  be  removed  and  the  seedlings 
gradually  inured  to  the  light  and  air.  A  shelf  near  to  the  glass  is  a  good 
place  for  them  preparatory  to  pricking  out  in  boxes. 
Large  Hives. 
“A  Promise  Fulfilled,”  by  “  G.  H.”  (page  70)  has  been  a  long 
time  cotning,  and  is  unsatisfactory  to  bee-keepers  who  advocate  and 
use  large  hive.s.  Before  proceeding  further  on  the  subject  it  may  be 
of  interest  to  refer  back,  with  a  view  to  a.scertaining  what  “  G.  II.” 
has  previously  .said  relative  to  this  subject.  At  first  he  showed  com¬ 
mendable  anxiety  fur  the  bees,  and  jiropoutided  an  exercise  in 
arithmetic  as  to  the  number  of  eggs  a  queen  would  lay  in  a  day  il 
lirovided  with  a  given  number  ol  frames.  The  next  was  the  amount 
of  honey  to  be  obtained  ;  250  lbs.  was  to  bo  taken  as  a  siirphus,  and 
100  lbs.  left  in  the  hive  for  stoie.s.  In  theory  this  was  a  great  succes.s, 
but  in  p-actice  it  would  not  stand  the  search  bght  being  turned  on. 
In  conneciion  wilh  the  former  he  says,  “On  .March  3rd  one  of  our 
members  stated  that  day  he  had  examined  one  of  his  hives  which  has 
t.ve  ve  frame.-;,  18  inches  by  0  deep  ;  the  bees  covered  nine  frames,  and 
he  observed  several  drones.”  Referring  again  lo  this  stock,  “G.  11.” 
siys,  “I  should  think  by  the  end  of  April  or  the  fust  week  in  May 
the  bees  will  crowd  the  hive.”  I  then  asked  him  a  question  which  he 
has  not  ansAered — namely,  it  according  to  his  own  showing  a  qui  en 
would  lav  from  3000  to  4000  eggs  per  day,  what  had  b-come  of  the 
bees?  On  March  3rd  the  bees  covered  nm'e  iranies,  whereas  by  the 
first  week  in  May  they  only  covered  twelve  frames. 
Froin  the  former  date  to  the  latter ^is  eight  weeks  ;  3500  eggs  laid 
daily  would  amount  to  193,000.  Perhaps  “  G.  II.”  will  inform  your 
readers  what  had  become  of  the  bees  from  this  wonderful  colony. 
Working  on  the  same  lines  it  would  take  several  of  his  twelve-frame 
hives  to  hold  the  b.  es  from  that  one  stock  by  the  time  of  the  honey 
flow  at  the  end  of  June. 
In  a  subsequent  note  abmit  the  350  lbs.  of  honey  from  one  hive, 
“  .4  Border  Bee-keeper,”  who  could  vouch  lor  the  truth  of  the  state¬ 
ment  he  made,  that  the  above  weight  of  honey  “  was  not  taken  from  a 
single  hive,  but  was  taken  off  in  a  week  by  the  owner  of  an  apiary  of 
some  twenty  hives,  who  suffered  the  statement  to  be  sjjread  abroad 
uitchecked;  ”  such  are  the  facts  as  they  have  appeared. 
Large  Yield  of  Honey. 
Referring  to  “  G.  H.’s  ”  remarks,  page  70,  he  mentions  the  fact  of 
334  lbs.  of  honey  being  taken  from  one  stock  of  bees  during  the  past 
season  in  the  Isle  i.f  .Man.  This  has  been  adverted  to  in  several 
papers  for  some  months  past,  and  Irom  information  received  from  a 
neighbouring  bee-kee[ier.  who  was  an  eye-witness  of  what  was  being 
done  in  .Mr.  tjuayle’s  apiary,  and  his  de.scription  of  the  bee  forage  in 
that  particular  district,  1  have  no  doubt  the  above  figures  are  perlectly 
correct. 
But  what  was  the  cause  of  this  record  yield?  In  the  first  place 
the  colony  of  bees  under  notice  did  not  swarm.  The  weather,  that 
all-important  factor  in  honey  production,  was  more  favourable 
throughimt  the  season  than  from  any  other  part  of  the  kingdom  Irom 
which  I  have  received  a  report.  The  bee  fijrage  was  exceptional,  and 
that  particular  part  of  the  Island  must  be  looked  on  as  a  perfect 
ptiradise  for  bees.  First  came  tlie  White  Clover,  which  was  in  good 
condition  for  honey  production,  not  having  suffered  from  the  drought 
as  in  many  parts  of  the  country.  Before  the  White  Clover  was  well 
over  there  was  a  wide  expanse  of  wild  herbs,  chiefly  wild  Sage  (so  it 
is  called  on  the  Island)  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  apiary. 
On  this  the  bees  worked  freely  and  stored  an  abundant  surplus.  Yet 
another  harvest  was  in  store  from  the  Heather,  and  when  we  take 
into  consideration  the  glorious  weather  that  prevailed  the  whole  of 
the  time,  as  it  was  in  bloom  earlier  there  than  in  the  nortliern 
counties  of  this  country,  we  cea.';e  to  wonder  how  the  above  large 
surplus  was  obtained. 
Such  a  large  yield  of  honey  could  only  be  obtained  under  excep¬ 
tional  circumstances,  and  shows  what  may  be  done  under  good 
management  when  there  are  three  distinct  harvests  and  the  weather 
is  favourable.  It  is  not  jiossiblo  for  a  single  colony  of  bees  to  store  a 
.sur[ilus  approaching  the  above  from  one  source. 
Standard  Frames. 
The  size  of  the  standard  frame  is  14  by  8^  inches,  while  “  G.  H.” 
recommends  a  frame  20  by  84  inches.  Hoes  he  think  that  a  few 
inches  difference  in  the  length  of  the  frame,  either  one  way  or  the 
other,  makes  any  material  difference  in  the  hands  of  a  practical 
bee  keeper  in  the  amount  of  honey  that  is  stored  ?  My  experience  is 
that  il  di  es  not.  Bees  would  work  as  freely  and  store  as  good  a 
sairqile  of  honey  in  frames  28  inches  in  length  as  they  would  in  those 
8  inches  or  14  inches  less. 
But  whatever  sized  frame  a  bee-keeper  starts  wilh,  I  would 
strongly  advise  him  to  keep  to  it,  as  it  simplifies  matters  considerably 
if  all  irames  aio  interchangeable.  If  experiments  are  to  be  tried  restrict 
them  to  a  iuniteil  number  of  stocks,  and  let  the  bulk  of  them  be  of  a 
recognised  size.  The  standard  frame  is  now  extensively  used 
throughout  the  country,  and  before  condemning  it  in  favour  of  another 
size,  it  is  as  well  if  we  stutiy  the  (prestion  and  see  where  the 
difference  is. 
This,  I  venture  to  say,  “G.  If.”  has  not  done,  as  he  recommends  a 
hive  holding  twelve  frames  20  by  8^  inches  ;  this  ho  classes  a  large 
hive,  but  wiiich  is  really  much  smaller,  as  I  will  endeavour  to  show, 
than  the  standard  frame  hive  as  advocated  in  these  pages.  Many 
times  I  have  stated  the  size  of  the  hive  I  lavour — namely,  the  body 
hive  containing  ten  staudaid  Irames.  Another  hive  the  same  size 
placed  on  the  lop,  which  may  be  termed  a  sujier,  holding  nine  frames 
of  the  same  size.  The  reason  there  is  one  frame  less  in  the  super  is  to 
allow  the  frames  to  be  placed  wider  apart,  so  that  the  bees  will  make 
deeper  cells  for  storing  their  honey.  'Now,  nineteen  frame.=,  14  by 
84  inches,  gives  4522  inches  of  surface.  Twelve  frames,  20  by 
8i  inches,  gives  4080  of  surlace,  a  ditfcrence  in  favour  of  the  former  of 
442  inches  of  storage  room. 
This  should  convintiO  “  G.  11.”  that  ho  doubtless  unknowingly  has 
been  recommending  a  smaller  hive  than  the  one  he  condemned.  It 
would  have  been  more  satisfactory  if  he  had  given  ilie  average  of  the 
twenty  hives  experimented  on  instead  of  the  Wiight  of  surplus  obtained 
from  one. 
If  “A  Yoiksliire  Man”  should  accept  his  invitation  to  inspect  his 
ajiiary  next  June,  he  will  doubtless  have  somelhmg  interesting  to  give 
your  readers.  I  do  not  despair  of  claiming  “  G.  II.”  a  disciple  of  the 
doubling  system,  and  if  he  will  give  it  a  lair  trial  without  bias,  he  will 
not  be  disappointed  at  the  result. — An  English  Bee-keeper. 
LARGE  FRAMES. 
Will  George  Ilowdenshire  kindly  inform  one  who  is  just  commencing 
bee-keeping  wliere  to  obtain  the  frames  he  mentions  on  page  70,  20  inches 
by  8i,  also  the  size  hive  he  would  most  recommend  ?  An  early  reply  will 
oblige,  as  I  am'  starting  on  iny  house  to  hold  si.v  or  eight  hives,  and  1  may 
have  to  alter  the  dimensions. — ^WaRWICK. 
TRADE  CATALOaUES  RECEIVED. 
H.  Bide,  Farnharn.— S'eeds,  Begonias,  <)i'c. 
H.  Cunr.ell  iki  Sons,  Swanley. — Chri/srinlhemums. 
II.  Cannell  &  Sons,  Swanley.— iS'eetfs  and  Fruit. 
.1.  Cocker  &  Sons,  Aberdeen. —  Seeds  and  Blunts.  ' 
Daniel  Bros.,  Norwich.  — iS'ceds. 
F.  Dicks  &  Co.,  60,  Deiin>gate,  Manchester.  — tS'eeA-. 
Dobie  iltt  Mason,  22,  Oak  Street,  Manchester.  —  (S’eec/s. 
H.  Eckford,  Wem,  Salop.  Sweet  Feus,  oS'o. 
R.  and  .1.  Farqnhar  Co.,  Boston,  Mass. — Seeds. 
Folheringham  i.v  King.  Dumfries.— iSrec/s. 
W.  Fromow  &  Sons,  Chiswick.— jS'eec/s. 
.1.  Green,  Dereham. — Seeds. 
Laing  &  Mather,  Kelso,  N.B. — Seeds. 
II.  Merryweatlier,  Southwell.— and  Roses. 
G.  Fhippen,  Reading.  - -S't'eds. 
W.  Rumsey,  Waltham  Cross. — Steds. 
J.  Russell,  Richmond.— /I'oses. 
Sharpe  &  Son,  Bardney,  lanes.— <SVeds. 
li.  Smith  A;  Co.,  Worcester,— .S'eec/s. 
W.  Sydenham,  Tamworth. — Pansies  and  Violets. 
T.  S.  Ware.  Tottenham, — Chnjsanthemimis. 
Vilmorin,  Andrieux  et  Cie,  4,  Quai  de  la  M^gisserie,  Baris. — Seeds. 
