May  14,  1898. 
Journal  of  Horticulture  and  cottage  garden  PA 
4&> 
clearing  off  Wallflowers,  Forget-me-nots,  Polyanthuses,  and  a  variety  of 
other  plants  that  are  rapidly  impoverishing  the  ground,  and  if  it  can  be 
spared  dig  in  a  quantity  of  well-decayed  leaves,  turf  trimmings,  and 
vegetable  matter  generally,  passing  this  through  screens  or  coarse  sieves 
prior  to  using  it.  Strong  manure  is  not  suitable  for  flower  beds,  but 
something  that  will  both  slightly  enrich  the  soil  and  retain  moisture  is 
much  needed  in  most  flower  gardens,  especially  if  spring  flowering 
plants  have  been  in  possession  all  the  winter. 
Auriculas,  Primulas,  and  Polyanthuses. — These  and  a  few 
other  spring  bedding  plants  ought  to  be  taken  good  care  of.  If  left 
undisturbed  till  just  when  the  beds  have  to  be  refilled  they  are  liable 
to  suffer  from  neglect.  Those  named,  also  Daisies,  Aubrietia,  Arabia, 
and  Forget-me-nots,  ought  to  be  at  once  pulled  to  pieces  and  replanted 
in  nursery  beds,  giving  the  preference  to  cool  positions,  notably  borders 
at  the  foot  of  north  walls,  fences,  and  hedges.  Give  them  the  benefit 
of  well-decayed  manure,  and  leaf  soil,  freely  mixed  with  ordinary 
garden  soil,  and  replant  firmly,  afterwards  watering  and  mulching 
with  short  manure,  leaf  soil,  or  even  grass  from  the  mowing  machine. 
Slips  or  cuttings  of  choice  Wallflowers,  Alyssum,  Myosotises,  and  Iberis, 
ought  to  be  inserted  in  hand-lights  arranged  in  cool  positions,  using 
gritty  loamy  soil,  and  shading  from  what  sunshine  reaches  the  glass. 
Bulbous-rooted  Plants.  —  If  Crocuses,  Snowdrops,  and  Scillas 
were  planted  near  the  edges  and  deeply  these  may  be  left  where  they 
are  with  every  prospect  of  their  proving  showy  next  spring.  In  mixed 
borders  Hyacinths  and  Tulips  may  also  be  left  where  they  are,  most 
of  them  flowering  again  next  spring ;  but  those  in  beds  ought  to  be 
lifted,  laid  in  elsewhere  to  ripen,  or  planted  at  once  in  mixed  borders 
or  beds.  Daffodils  generally  need  not  be  moved  and  divided  oftener 
than  once  in  every  three  years.  If  they  must  be  moved  it  ought  not 
to  be  done  before  the  tops  are  quite  died  down. 
Commencing:  Beddlng-out.  —  Where  there  is  much  summer 
bedding  to  do  an  early  start  should  be  made,  added  to  which  it  is 
of  importance  that  some  kinds  of  plants  be  well  established  in  their 
flowering  quarters  before  the  hot  days  of  June  are  with  us.  Violas 
ought  particularly  to  be  planted  early,  and  these  hardy  showy  plants 
should  have  the  benefit  of  a  deeply  dug,  freely  manured  Bite,  poverty 
and  drought  at  the  roots  meaning  an  early  failure  from  mildew. 
Shrubby  Calceolarias  will  also  stand  what  frosts  we  shall  experience 
during  the  next  few  weeks,  and  should  be  planted  at  once.  The  same 
remarks  apply  to  Pentstemons,  another  very  effective  class  of  bedding 
plants.  In  each  and  every  case  give  the  plants  a  good  watering  before 
moving,  and  another  after  carefully  transplanting  with  a  good  ball  of  soil 
about  the  roots.  Spaces  to  be  filled  in  with  more  tender  plants  ought 
to  be  lined  out,  and  then  no  mistake  will  be  made.  During  dull, 
showery  weather  all  hardy  edging  plants  should  be  lifted,  pulled  to 
pieces,  and  replanted  in  fresh  sites.  Shade  roughly  from  bright  sunshine 
and  keep  well  supplied  with  water. 
Hardening:  Tender  Plants. — Some  of  the  more  tender  plants, 
notably  Heliotropes,  Coleuses,  Iresines,  and  Alternantheras,  if  too 
suddenly  exposed  to  all  weathers  are  liable  to  receive  a  severe  check  from 
which  they  do  not  quickly  recover.  During  the  process  of  hardening 
cover  with  glazed  lights  if  possible  during  cold  nights,  and  also  when 
heavy  rains  are  imminent.  The  second  week  in  June  is  quite  early 
enough  to  bed  these  out. 
Bate  Propagation. — If  there  is  any  likelihood  of  more  Coleuses, 
Iresines,  and  Alternantheras  being  wanted  than  are  already  rooted,  it  is 
not  yet  too  late  to  propagate  more.  Put  in  soft  young  tops  in  a  brisk 
heat,  and  duly  shade.  They  will  strike  root  in  three  or  four  days,  and 
attain  a  serviceable  size  in  a  fortnight. 
HE  BEE-KEEPER.te 
1  .  1  ■  I.  I  .  I  -  1 .1  ,|  .  I .  I  I  -i-i.j  -  i-  S' 
SIZE  OF  HIVES. 
Hives  having  less  comb  surface  (double)  than  4212  superficial 
inches  are  too  small  to  expect  a  full  yield  of  honey.  Some  people 
insist  on  having  small  hives  for  poor  districts,  but  surely,  whether 
much  honey  is  to  be  had  or  not,  strong  hives  carry  in  the  most.  To 
meet  the  exigencies  of  both  cases  the  prudent  bee-keeper  will  work 
up  his  hives  in  auch  a  manner  as  to  have  the  greatest  strength  of 
bees  at  the  proper  time. 
According  to  my  experience  no  artificial  feeding  does  the 
slightest  good,  unless  in  neglected  cases,  till  the  end  of  May,  after 
which  it  is  different.  Previous  to  that  bees  were  intent  on  raising 
brood,  and  would  continue  doing  so  provided  the  weather  was  fine  ; 
but  when  the  weather  turns  unfavourable,  as  it  often  does  in  my 
Scottish  home  during  May  and  a  part  of  June,  brood  drawing  and 
egg  eating  take  place  even  although  the  hfves  have  sufficient 
stores.  Therefore,  to  keep  up  the  strength  of  hives  and  prevent 
the  loss  of  brood,  feed  every  hive  with  from  2  to  4  ozs.  sugar 
daily  with  the  tin  scoups  from  beneath.  I  have  fed  none  yet,  my 
hives  being  mostly  first-class,  and  carried  in  a  good  deal  of  honey 
and  pollen  during  the  first  week  of  May. 
Till  the  2nd  of  May  the  weather  was  wintry,  but  a  reaction  has 
set  in,  and  the  temperature  gradually  rose  from  40°  to  55°  ;  but  the 
air  ia  dry  with  easterly  winds,  and  bees  are  not  getting  much 
honey.  I  intend  to  feed,  as  I  have  advised,  until  honey  is 
plentiful.  The  coverings  of  the  tops  of  my  hives  will  not  be 
disturbed  until  supers  are  put  on.  When  queens  and  bees  are  as 
they  should  be  hives  are  full  to  overflowing,  and  in  all  cases  where 
they  do  not  come  up  to  the  expected  strength  will,  at  the  first 
opportunity,  introduce  a  youthful  queen.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that 
timely  room  will  not  prevent  swarming.  There  is  a  bee  law 
controlling  that,  and  over  which  man  has  no  control. 
I  recently  heard  from  a  correspondent,  to  whom  I  sold  hives 
about  twelve  or  fifteen  years  ago,  asking  me  to  supply  a  friend 
of  his  with  a  Lanarkshire  atorifying  hive.  I  informed  him 
I  was  not  sending  out  hives,  but  if  his  friend  woula  visit  me  I 
would  sell  him  either  a  stocked  or  an  unstocked  hive.  The 
distance  was,  however,  apparently  too  great,  and  I  was  asked  why  I 
would  not  send  a  hive,  considering  he  was  so  well  pleased  with  his, 
and  what  was  wrong  with  them  ?  My  reply  was  that  they  bad  no 
fault,  but  people  had  been  so  much  educated  to  defective  hives, 
and  had  condemned  the  Lanarkshire  divisional  hive,  while  my 
experience  showed  that  in  some  years  the  honey  from  them  was 
much  superior  to  that  taken  from  broad  hives.  To  this  last  letter 
came  a  reply,  telling  me  to  send  a  hive,  and  that  I  was  perfectly 
right  about  the  quality  of  the  honey,  for  his  employer  had  used 
all  their  own  honey,  and  had  to  get  some  from  the  dairyman  ;  and 
although  the  bees  gathered  their  honey  from  the  same  fields,  and 
were  manipulated  in  the  same  manner,  that  which  was  supplied  by 
the  latter  was  watery  and  insipid,  his  hives  being  of  the  broad  type. 
I  have  repeatedly  stated  why  honey  from  narrow  storified 
hives  was  superior  to  that  from  oblong  hives,  but  the  above 
testimony  is  valuable  and  confirmed  my  experience.  In  addition 
to  the  quality  and  quantity  of  honey  from  storified  hives,  there  is 
always  the  advantage  of  taking  honey  without  loss  or  waste  of 
comb.  The  narrow  and  high  hive  is  the  only  form  which  may 
be  termed  economical,  for  if  there  is  no  loss  in  comb  neither  is 
there  any  undue  loss  of  heat  during  winter  or  spring,  which  goes 
a  long  way  in  preserving  bees  in  a  perfect  state  of  health,  while 
breeding  goes  on  uninterruptedly  during  the  whole  season. — 
A  Lanarkshire  Bee-keeper. 
PRODUCTION  OF  RUN  HONEY. 
To  obtain  a  perfect  sample  of  run  or  extracted  honey  is  the 
ambition  of  bee-keepers,  and  as  it  is  in  greater  demand  than  honey 
in  the  comb  it  is  much  more  extensively  produced  throughout  the 
country.  Although  it  does  not  command  as  high  a  price  as  well- 
finished  sections  of  comb  honey,  a  heavier  weight  of  run  honey  per 
hive  may  be  obtained,  which  will  make  up  for  the  extra  price  of 
sections. 
But  to  obtain  honey  of  the  best  quality  the  storifying  system 
in  some  form  or  the  other  must  be  practised,  and  the  best  means 
towards  the  desired  end  that  I  have  found  of  obtaining  both  bulk 
and  quality  during  the  short  seasons  usually  experienced  in  this 
country  is  to  depend  chiefly  on  the  doubling  system,  either  by 
using  shallow  frames,  now  so  much  used  by  so  many  bee-keepers, 
or  the  full-sized  standard  frame  ;  from  the  latter  I  obtain  the  bulk 
of  my  honey.  By  this  means  a  good  sample  of  honey  will  be 
obtained  from  supers  which  are  clear  of  brood,  and  after  the  honey 
has  been  extracted  from  them  may  be  returned  to  the  hive  and 
again  filled  by  the  bees. 
By  working  on  this  system  the  advantage  of  having  all  frames 
and  hives  of  the  same  size  and  interchangeable  one  with  the  other 
will  at  once  be  seen  and  appreciated  by  those  who  are  responsible 
for  the  practical  and  successful  management  of  bees  in  various 
parts  of  the  country.  Doubling  should  not  be  attempted  until  the 
majority  of  stocks  are  fairly  strong  in  bees,  as  even  in  the 
best  managed  apiaries  there  will  always  be  some  stocks  that  have  a 
greater  number  of  bees  and  are  much  stronger  than  others. 
About  three  weeks  before  the  commencement  of  the  honey  flow 
select  one  of  the  strongest  stocks  that  is  headed  by  a  young  fertile 
queen  bred  the  previous  year.  From  this  stock  take  out  three  or 
four  of  the  centre  frames  that  are  full  of  brood  with  all  the 
adhering  bees,  but  care  must  be  taken  that  the  queen  is  not  on  the 
combs  to  be  removed,  and  replace  with  empty  combs  or  full  sheets 
of  foundation.  Place  a  sheet  of  queen  excluder  zinc  over  the  top 
of  the  frame.  Put  a  second  hive  tbe  same  size  on  the  top  of  the 
latter,  then  go  to  another  hive,  for  preference  one  whose  colony 
is  headed  by  a  queen  that  is  two  years  old,  remove  the  frames 
carefully  until  the  queen  is  found.  The  frame  with  the  adhering 
bees  and  queen  should  be  placed  in  a  temporary  hive  or  box  on 
one  side  for  a  time,  afterwards  return  to  the  hive  and  take  out  as 
many  frames  and  bees  as  are  required  to  fill  the  top  storey  of  the 
hive  first  operated  on.  The  frames  should  be  placed  alternately 
with  those  taken  from  the  body  of  hive,  and  no  fighting  will  take 
place. 
If  there  are  not  sufficient  frames  of  brood,  or  the  hive  be  of 
extra  strength,  part  of  the  space  in  the  top  storey  may  be  filled  with 
