432 
Journal  of  horticulture  and  cottage  garden  Eft. 
May  f,  18§8. 
by  the  same  laws  which  guide  bees  to  honey  sources.  It  is  also 
worth  mentioning  that  if  I  took  her  after  mating  and  exposed  her 
not  a  male  came  near. 
Purchasing  foreign  queens  is  a  judicious  action  on  the  part  of 
bee-keepers.  The  1st  of  August  is  a  good  time  to  begin  queen 
rearing  from  imported  queens,  selecting  a  hive  having  ics  drones 
preserved  after  removing  the  queen,  and  in  eight  days  after 
destroying  all  queen  cells.  It  will  now  be  in  the  best  condition  to 
introduce  frames  of  eggs  and  larvos  from  the  hive  of  imported 
queen.  Ten  days  after  divide  into  nuclei,  giving  each  a  sealed 
queen  cell,  and  if  these  are  numerous  and  many  wanted,  frames 
from  other  hives  with  their  bees  adhering  may  be  taken  to 
strengthen  them.  If  pure- bred  bees  are  wanted,  drones  of  the 
same  breed  as  the  imported  queen  should  be  taken  with  young 
queens  to  an  isolated  place  from  four  to  seven  miles  distant  from 
other  drones,  and  a  large  percentage,  if  not  all  of  them,  will  be 
purely  mated. 
The  above  is  the  first  step  to  insure  large  yields  of  honey.  The 
second  one  is  to  adopt  much  larger  hives  than  are  in  general  use, 
and  those  of  a  narrow  type.  In  a  future  article  I  will  give  objections 
to  small  and  oblong  hives. — A  Lanarkshire  Bee-keeper. 
THE  PRODUCTION  OF  HONEY. 
This  being  tho  aim  of  the  majority  of  bee-keepers,  no  doubt  a 
few  notes  on  the  subject  may  be  interesting  at  this  season,  as  the 
time  is  fast  approaching  when  the  matter  must  be  taken  seriously 
in  hand  ;  in  fact,  it  has  already  been  done  in  forward  districts,  as  it 
takes  about  six  weeks  to  build  a  stock  up  to  its  full  strength  to 
obtain  full  benefit  from  the  honey  flow. 
J udging,  however,  from  my  own  experience  the  majority  of 
stocks  are  this  year  in  prime  condition,  and  will  need  very  little 
assistance.  In  the  southern  parts  of  the  country,  where  fruit  trees 
are  extensively  grown,  bee-keepers  will  have  an  advantage  over 
those  not  so  favourably  situated  in  the  midland  and  northern 
c  unties.  It  is  surprising  the  amount  of  honey  a  few  strong  colonies 
wdl  store  from  the  fruit  tree  blossoms  during  a  spell  of  warm 
weather,  such  as  is  often  experienced  in  the  month  of  May.  But 
it  is  only  in  favoured  districts  where  this  is  possible,  though  I  have 
known  it  to  be  the  only  source  from  which  a  surplus  could  be 
obtained. 
The  Hawthorn  is  nearly  a  month  earlier  in  the  Midlands  than 
in  some  former  years.  I  gathered  some  fully  expanded  flowers 
from  a  Hawthorn  tree  growing  in  a  sheltered  position  on  the 
28th  uit.,  which  shows  the  forwardness  of  vegetation  as  compared 
with  a  late  season,  not  having  previously  seen  it  in  bloom  at  so 
early  a  date  so  far  north  before.  The  trees  are  thickly  studded 
with  bloom  buds.  Bees  work  freely  on  the  Hawthorn,  and  it  will 
this  season  doubtless  be  of  great  assistance  to  those  who  depend 
chiefly  on  the  fruit  tree  blossoms  and  Hawthorn  for  a  surplus. 
When  to  Super? 
The  above  is  a  query  very  frequently  asked  but  difficult  to 
answer,  unless  the  whole  surrounding  of  the  querist  is  known. 
From  what  source  is  the  chief  honey  supply  obtained?  The 
probable  date  ?  And  what  are  the  conditions  of  the  stocks  ? 
These  are  necessary  questions  to  answer  before  a  definite  reply 
can  be  given,  as  success  or  failure  will  largely  depend  on  the 
strength  of  the  various  stocks  at  the  time  of  the  honey  flow.  I 
have  more  than  once  stated  the  fact,  and  would  again  emphasise  it, 
that  to  obtain  full  benefit  from  the  honey-producing  flowers,  all 
stocks  intended  for  honey  production  should  be  overflowing  with 
bees,  bearing  in  mind  that  the  greater  the  number  of  bees  the  more 
honey  will  there  be  proportionately  stored. 
If  half  a  dozen  stocks  are  standing  side  by  side,  and  are  of  but 
moderate  strength,  they  will  probably  only  collect  sufficient  supplies 
for  their  daily  requirements.  But  reduce  the  number  of  colonies, 
and  make  two  or  three  stocks  strong  by  uniting  the  bees  from  the 
other  hives,  and  a  surplus  will  be  stored.  All  the  bees  need  not 
be  taken  from  those  hives  manipulated,  but  sufficient  may  be  left 
with  the  queen  and  a  frame  or  two  of  brood  to  produce  a  strong 
stock  for  wintering.  A  frame  of  foundation  should  be  given  to 
them  every  few  days,  or  as  often  as  necessary  ;  but  it  is  worse  than 
useless  to  give  extra  frames  of  foundation  unless  there  are  sufficient 
bees  to  cover  them. 
But  with  extra  strong  colonies  some  bee-keepers  mav  be  afraid 
of  being  troubled  with  the  swarming  mania.  I  seldom  have  any 
difficulty  in  that  respect,  but  should  any  reader  have  a  doubt  in  the 
matter  or  have  an  excess  of  swarms  I  will  endeavour  to  assist  him, 
as  I  know  of  nothing  more  annoying  than  to  have  the  bees  swarm, 
and  if  returned  to  their  hive,  will  probably  swarm  again  on  the 
first  bright  day. 
For  obtaining  a  surplus  from  fruit  tree  blossoms  I  prefer 
sections,  as  honey  sells  readily  in  the  comb  early  in  the  season,  and 
even  if  not  required  for  sale  it  is  most  serviceable  in  that  form. 
Fruit  tree  honey  is  not  so  good  for  bottling  as  the  honey  obtained 
later  in  the  season — notably  that  from  the  white  Clover,  which  I 
find  is  preferred  to  any  other.  More  harm  than  good  is  caused  by 
placing  supers  in  any  form  on  hives  before  they  are  well  crowded 
with  bees,  as  these  in  Nature  always  store  their  honey  above  their 
brood,  so  supers  are  placed  above  the  brood  nest,  and  unless  there 
are  sufficient  bees  to  attend  to  the  work  of  the  hive  as  well  as  the 
supers  they  wdl  neglect  the  latter,  consequently  there  will  be  a 
great  loss  of  heat,  although  the  super  may  be  covered  (as  they 
always  should  be)  with  several  thicknesses  of  warm  material. 
It  is,  however,  possible  to  so  manage  the  bees  that  they  will 
store  a  surplus  in  supers  during  a  short  honey  flow  without  adding 
more  bees.  This  is  done  by  simply  taking  out  all  the  frames  from 
the  parent  stock  that  are  not  covered  with  bees,  and  leave  no  brood 
in  them,  crowding  the  bees  on  to  eight  or  ten  frames,  more  or  less, 
as  the  case  may  be,  and  drawing  the  division  board  close  up  to  the 
remaining  frames.  Then  place  a  crate  of  sections  filled  with  full 
sheets  of  foundation,  or,  better  still,  with  fully  drawn  out  combs, 
and  if  the  weather  is  favourable  they  will  at  once  commence  to 
store  a  surplus.  It  is,  however,  only  reasonable  to  suppose  that  a 
much  less  quantity  will  be  obtained  than  if  the  hive  had  its  full 
number  of  frames  all  crowded  with  bees.  I  do  not  recommend 
this  plan,  only  in  exceptional  cases,  such  as  the  early  fruit  tree 
blossoms,  or  similar  instances.  I  will  defer  my  notes  on  working 
for  extracted  honey  to  a  future  date. — An  English  Bee-keeper. 
TRADE  CATALOGUES  RECEIVED. 
W.  Welch,  Rush  Green,  Romford. — Seeds,  Chrysanthemums,  and 
Plants. 
Young  &  Dobinson,  Stevenage. — Chrysanthemums. 
All  correspondence  should  be  directed  either  to  “  The 
Editor  ”  or  to  “  The  Publisher.’'  Letters  addressed  to 
Dr.  Hogg  or  members  of  the  staff  often  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. 
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  reply  to  questions  through  the  post, 
and  we  do  not  undertake  to  return  rejected  communications. 
Preserving’  Bottles  ( 0 .  R  ). — The  address  you  need  ia  Messrs. 
G.  V.  De  Luca  Hill  &  Co.,  Long  Lane,  Aldersgate  Street,  London. 
Calvary  Clover  QAn  Old  Subscriber'). — The  botanical  name  of 
this  plant  is  Medicago  echinus.  It  is  an  annual  ;  sow  seeds  in  a  warm 
position  out  of  doors  without  delay. 
British  Perns  ( J S!).  —  There  are  upwards  of  200  genera  of 
British  Ferns,  and  the  number  of  species  must  reach  some  thousands. 
We  are  not  aware  that  a  census  has  ever  been  taken. 
Violets  ( G .  S.). — We  will  endeavour  to  comply  with  your  sugges¬ 
tion,  and  shall  be  glad  to  see  the  new  Violas  at  the  same  time  as  the 
notes  pertaining  thereto.  Some  of  our  Viola-loving  correspondents 
think  there  is  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  raisers  to  name  and  perpetuate 
too  manv  new  forms,  which  they  cannot  find  it  in  their  hearts  to  throw 
away.  You  must  not  take  this  as  applying  to  yourgelf  more  than  to 
others  who  are  seeking  to  improve  these  charming  hardy  flowers. 
Apple  Blossoms  Destroyed  by  Sparrows  (P.  C.  A.). — The 
flower  trusses  were  not  injured  in  any  way,  the  anthers  being  perfect  on 
the  stamens  and  the  pistil  intact.  We  mention  this  as  sparrows  are  said 
to  attack  blossoms  and  flowers  for  the  etaminate  and  pistillate  organs, 
but  we  have  invariably  found  that  when  the  birds  visit  the  blossoms  of 
the  Apple  it  is  with  the  object  of  getting  at  the  Apple  blossom  weevil 
grub  inside  the  flowers,  extracting  the  aphides  that  frequently  cluster 
therein,  and  oftentimes  for  the  small  caterpillars  that  roll  and  hide  in 
the  tender  leaves,  whence  they  come  out  at  night  to  feed  on  the  blossom 
and  young  fruit.  The  Pears  in  your  case  were  not  pecked,  but  eaten  by 
some  creature  with  jaws,  and  those  belonged  to  the  caterpillars  we  found 
rolled  up,  or  rather  iuside  the  rolled-up  leaves  which  accompanied  the 
specimen.  These  we  have  watched  both  sparrows  and  chaffinches 
capture  by  disturbing  them.  Of  course,  the  birds  may  be  the  delin¬ 
quents,  but  we  can  only  be  guided  by  the  evidence  before  us,  and  that 
was  clearly  against  the  caterpillars  ensconced  in  the  rolled-up  Pear 
leaves,  those  only  being  the  cause  of  the  eaten  Pears. 
