October  20,  1898 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
309 
with  every  five  loads  of  the  decaying  refuse  its  value  as  a  manure  will  be 
considerably  enhanced.  All  the  woody  refuse  should  be  burnt,  forming 
part  of  a  heap  of  wood  and  rubbish  that  is  to  be  converted  into  ash  by 
means  of  a  slow  fire.  Heavy  land  freely  dressed  with  this  residue  from 
a  slow  fire  is  permanently  improved  by  it,  never  again  running  together 
so  closely  as  before,  and  both  fruit  trees  and  vegetable  roots  revel  in  land 
to  which  the  material  has  been  added  freely. 
'N'  TT"="-“  J  "2  |  L  |  |  |  |  |  |  _  i  -~i  i  _  t  -  f  -  v  -  ;  -  I  -  1  -  1  -  - — YT^Ji 
iE  BEE-KEEPER.^ 
Work  in  the  Apiary. 
The  fine  bright  weather  which  has  continued  throughout  the  late 
summer  and  early  autumn  will  be  appreciated  by  bee-keepers,  as  it  will 
enable  them  to  carry  out  any  repairs  or  alterations  that  may  be 
necessary  for  the  well-being  of  the  bees.  This  is  more  important 
after  a  long  spell  of  bright  weather  than  would  be  the  case  in  an 
ordinary  season.  Although  hives  may  be  well  made  of  the  best 
materials,  they  will  eventually  warp,  and  cracks  appear  where 
least  expected  in  the  roof  from  long  exposure.  When  this  happens, 
what  is  the  result?  The  first  heavy  shower  of  rain  that  comes  will 
saturate  the  bees,  and  it  allowed  to  remain  in  this  condition  for  any 
length  of  time  they  will  gradually  dwindle  away,  and  instead  of 
coming  out  strong  and  healthy  the  following  spring,  they  will  be  weak. 
Dampness  in  the  hive,  too,  will  cause  dysentery  in  its  most  acute 
form,  and  long  before  it  is  possible  to  transfer  the  bees  to  another  hive 
they  will  probably  have  succumbed. 
It  is  therefore  advisable  during  the  present  spell  of  fine  weather 
to  thoroughly  overhaul  the  hives.  It  will  not  be  necessary  to  disturb 
the  bees  if  only  the  roof  is  affevted,  and  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  the 
body  of  the  hive  will  be  found  in  good  condition,  although  the  roof 
may  be  quite  the  reverse.  Our  usual  practice  is  to  paint  the  hives 
once  a  year,  and  autumn  is  the  best  time  for  the  operation,  as  they  are 
then  made  waterproof  for  the  winter.  Genuine  whitelead  is  the  best, 
as  it  will  stand  the  many  changes  in  the  weather  better  than  anything 
else  we  have  yet  tried.  The  hive  and  roof  should  receive  two  coats  of 
paint.  After  it  has  been  painted  once  and  has  dried,  stop  up  all 
crevices  with  putty  ;  this  should  be  well  pressed  in  with  a  knife.  If 
large  cracks  are  found  it  will  be  better  to  strain  a  piece  of  thin  calico 
over  them ;  this  should  be  well  saturated  with  paint  before  being 
placed  in  position,  pvint  it  over  again  on  the  outside,  and  it  will  be 
found  that  no  moisture  will  penetrate  into  the  interior  of  the  hive. 
We  have  some  roofs  which  were  treated  in  this  manner  ten  years 
ago,  and  they  are  now,  for  all  practical  purposes,  as  good  as  when  they 
were  first  operated  on,  and  it  would  require  a  close  examination  to 
show  where  the  patches  were  first  applied. 
Autumn  Flowers. 
What  a  wealth  of  autumn  flowers  there  are  in  the  north ;  never 
before  have  we  seen  so  many  so  late  in  the  autumn.  Several  of  the 
gardens  are  brighter  now  than  they  often  are  at  midsummer.  This 
may  seem  almost  incredible  to  those  residing  in  the  south,  where  all 
vegetation  has  been  dried  up  for  months  past,  and  flowers  in  the 
gardens  are  almost  nil.  The  bees  are  having  a  delightful  time 
gathering  honey  and  pollen,  thus  adding  to  the  large  surplus  already 
stored  in  their  hives.  It  is  only  in  an  exceptional  season  like  the 
present  that  this  takes  place,  and  during  the  middle  of  the  day  the 
bees  may  be  seen  returning  to  their  hive  heavily  laden  with  pollen, 
thus  showing  that  breeding  is  still  going  on  in  the  majority  of  the 
stocks. 
What  will  be  the  result  of  this  late  breeding  remains  to  be  seen. 
We  have  no  fear  of  the  bees  being  in  good  condition  next  spring,  as 
they  will  go  into  winter  quarters  well  provided  with  natural  stores,  as 
owing  to  the  prevalence  of  honeydew  the  honey  was  not  extracted 
from  the  combs.  We  are  now,  in  addition  to  the  above,  receiving 
great  benefit  from  late-sown  Mignonette.  Many  of  the  hardy  herba¬ 
ceous  plants  which  bloom  profusely  in  the  autumn  yield  pollen  in 
abundance,  and  doubtless  a  little  honey  during  the  prevalence  of 
high  temperatures  such  as  have  prevailed  during  the  present  season. 
The  common  Ivy  may  be  found  in  many  country  districts  covering 
old  walls  and  trees.  This  at  the  present  time  is  a  mass  of  bloom  from 
which  the  bees  derive  great  benefit. — An  English  Bee-keeper. 
Bees  in  the  Lecture  Room. 
At  the  last  bi-monthly  meeting  of  the  Walkley  Floral  Society,  Mr. 
John  Haigh  (Vice-President)  presided,  and  a  good  number  of  members 
were  present  to  hear  an  address  by  Mr.  John  Hewitt.  Sheffield,  the 
subject  being  “The  Wonders  of  Bee  Life,”  and  in  dealing  with  it  he 
principally  referred  to  the  remarkable  control  that  can  be  obtained  over 
bees  by  those  who  take  the  pains  to  study  them  carefully. 
He  informed  his  hearers  that  if  you  could  only  frighten  them  that  you 
might  manipulate  them  at  pleasure  without  any  fear  or  danger.  Two 
laves  of  very  lively  bees^were  brought  from  his  apiary  with  which  to 
demonstrate  his  statements.  The  first  to  be  opened  was  full  of  combs,, 
but  before  the  frames  were  taken  out  Mr.  Hewitt  very  violently  thumped 
tie  sides  and  ends  of  the  hive,  after  the  style  of  a  Cingalese  beating  the 
tom-tom.  This  had  the  effect  of  arousing  the  inmates,  which  buzzed  in  a 
most  alarming  manner,  and  caused  a  number  of  the  audience  to  have  a 
sensation  that  is  known  as  “  creepy.”  Then  he  proceeded  to  take  out 
and  exhibit  each  frame,  on  which  masses  of  bees  were  clustered  together ;. 
scarcely  a  bee  attempted  to  escape. 
The  second  exhibition  was  of  a  much  more  alarming  and  sensational 
character,  and  consisted  in  liberating  a  whole  hive  at  once.  Mr.  Hewitt 
dumped  20,000  bees  on  to  the  middle  of  the  floor,  as  quickly  as  he 
might  have  emptied  a  box  of  currants  or  any  other  commodity,  and  then 
proceeded  to  make  them  march  into  the  box  placed  2  or  3  feet  distant. 
Immediately  the  whole  colony  was  iu  a  state  of  active  excitement,  and  in  a. 
broad  band  started  for  the  shelter  of  the  upturned  box.  The  earliest 
arrivals  soon  entered  the  sanctuary,  but  some  time  necessarily  elapsed 
before  the  whole  army  got  back  to  their  quarters  ;  a  few  bees  took  wing 
and  made  an  examination  of  the  audience,  whose  frequent  dodging  proved 
that  they  could  not  quite  forget  that  they  could  sting.  A  few  more  started 
to  explore  the  floor  of  the  room,  and  in  bringing  these  wanderers  back  to 
the  line  of  march  there  was  cons:derable  amusement  (and  a  little  courage 
on  the  part  of  the  audience). 
Mr.  Hewitt  assured  his  hearers  that  the  bees  were  quite  harmless,  and 
might  be  handled  with  impunity  by  anyone  provided  they  did  not  crush 
them.  To  prove  his  statement  further  than  he  had  done  (by  picking  up- 
single  bees  during  his  address)  he  plunged  his  bare  hand  into  the  mass  on 
the  floor,  an  example  that  was  immediately  followed  by  two  of  the 
audience,  who  lifted  from  the  ground  as  many  bees  as  could  be  held  in 
one  hand.  The  spectators,  amongst  whom  were  three  ladies,  had  by  this 
time  gained  a  little  courage,  when  a  number  of  them  picxed  up  single 
bees  with  as  much  ease  as  they  might  a  stray  collar  stud. 
Before  taking  out  the  frames  Mr.  Hewitt,  with  a  camel’s-bair  pencil,, 
smeared  the  edges  of  the  hive  with  carbolic  acid,  and  previous  to 
pitching  the  bees  on  the  floor,  he  roughly  made  a  narrow  circle  on  the 
floor  about  7  feet  in  diameter,  with  the  same  liquid,  explaining  that  they 
did  not  like  to  cross  anything  smeared  with  carbolic  acid. 
The  meeting  was  a  most  interesting  and  instructive  one,  and  all 
present  were  greatly  pleased  with  the  experiment,  and  passed  a  very 
hearty  vote  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Hewitt  for  his  instructive  and  interesting, 
entertainment. — J.  S.  H. 
#*#A11  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should  ,  until) 
further  notice,  be  directed  to“  The  Editor,”  8,  Rose  Hill  Road,. 
Wandsworth,  s.w.,  and  NOT  to  12,  Mitre  Court  Chambers, 
Fleet  Street.  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  write  re- 
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.  Letters  of  inquiry  must  be  accompanied  by 
the  names  and  addresses  of  the  writers,  but  these  will  neither  be 
published  nor  disclosed  when  initials  or  nom  de  plumes  are  give  a 
for  the  purpose  of  replies. 
Correspondents  should  not  mix  up  on  the  same  sheet  questions  relating 
to  Gardening  and  those  on  Bee  subjects,  and  it  is  convenient  when 
each  question  is  written  on  a  separate  sheet.  All  articles  intended: 
for  insertion  should  be  written  on  one  side  of  the  paper  only;  and 
the  name  and  address  of  each  writer  must  be  known  by  the 
Editor,  though  not  necessarily  for  insertion.  We  cannot,  as  a 
rule,  reply  to  questions  through  the  post,  and  we  do  not  under¬ 
take  to  return  communications  which,  for  any  reason,  cannot 
be  inserted. 
White  Dahlia  (Z).  D.). — The  variety  appears  to  be  a  good  one,  but  we 
should  advise  you  to  forward  several  flowers  to  some  Dahlia  specialist,, 
who  will  tell  you  if  it  is  of  any  value,  and  whether  it  is  quite  distinct  from, 
all  others. 
Caterpillars  and  Dahlias  (W.  S.  S.,  Cardiff).— We  received  your  letter 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  it  was  incorrectly  addressed,  but  no  cater¬ 
pillars  have  yet  come  to  hand.  Send  fresh  specimens  directed  to  the- 
address  at  the  head  of  this  column. 
Exhibiting  Chrysanthemums  (7.  Z>.).— ' The  point  you  raise  can  only 
be  determined  by  the  judges,  and  therefore  safety  rests  in  your  exhibiting 
within  the  rules  of  the  N.C.S.  Perhaps  you  had  better  write  to  Mr.  Dean, 
the  secretary,  on  the  subject.  We  think  affiliated  societies  should  adhere 
to  the  N.C.S.  rules  on  points  of  nomenclature. 
