JbtJRNAL  OP  MoPTiOtrLTUM  -A^n^^^^^  ^AkhPSMR: 
Itigtut  il, 
m  ^ 
brood  nest,  sarroanding  them  with  others,  in  which  only  a  smaU 
quantity  of  honey  has  been  stored,  covering  them  all  up  warm 
with  several  thicknesses  of  old  carpet  or  similar  material.  The 
bees  will  at  once  empty  the  cells  of  the  outside  combs  and  fill  the 
centre  ones  with  honey  so  obtained,  and  in  doe  coarse  this  will  be 
sealed  over  and  the  sections  will  be  found  to  be  quite  as  satisfactory 
as  those  obtained  earlior  in  the  season.  But  shoold  a'cbaoge  in  the 
weather  occur  and  a  low.  thcnpei^tare  prevail,  if  only  for  a^few 
days,  the  bees  will  at  once  commence  to  carry  the  honey  from  the 
supers  down  into  the  brood  nest,  This^iis  annoying  when  well- 
finished  sections  are  required  fqr  a  particular  purpose.  ^  Jt.is  only 
in  exceptional  cases  that  I  recommend  this  plan,  preferring  in  iny 
own  case  to  extract  the  honey  from  the  partly  filled  .seistiqos. 
There  are  put  back  into  the  crate  again,  and  late  in  the  evening 
are  placed  on  the  top  of  one.of  the  hives  to  be  cleaned  oat  by  the 
bees,  removing  them  the  following  moroing.  By  working^n,  these 
lines  no  robbing  will  take  place^'  the  sections  will  be'in  a  nlean^state 
for  storing  away  for  ’USC  another  season,  and  the  bees  will  be 
benefited  by  clearing  the  sections  of  kfl^snrpftnshone^j-wbkJi  'Woold 
otherwise  be  wasted.  The  etUpty  sections  containing  drawn-oUt 
combs  shonld  be  stored  in  a.  (Jry  place.  For  this  purpose  !  find 
there  ia.nothjng  better  than,  a  Ia,rg8  box  which  is  mouse- proof.  ,  In 
this  should  be  placed  the  sections,  and  if  a  ball  or  two  of  naphtha¬ 
line  is.  put  into  the  box  at  the  same  time  there  will  be  no  danger 
to  be  feared  from  the  wax  moth,  which  are  often  very  troublesome 
to  combs  that  is  stored  away  daring  the  winter.  Some  cases  have 
come  under  my  notice  in  which  the  combs  have  been  completely 
ruined  by  these  pests.  Another  simple  plan  to  keep  the  moths 
away  is  to  sprinkle  some  calico,  tiflPany,  or  similar  material  with 
carbolic  acid,  surrounding  the  combs  with  it,  and  as  it  is  within  the 
reach  of  all  should  be  generally  nsed. 
Transperbing  Bees  from  Skeps. 
Where  straw  skeps  are  in  general  use  the  honey  is  nsnally 
obtained  from  them  during  the  present  month,  and  as  it  is  also  a 
suitable  season  for  transferring  them  to  moveable  frame  hives,  a 
few  notes  on  the  subject  may  be  of  interest.  It  is,  howeveE,jnow 
too  late,  except  in  extraordinary  cases,  to  attempt  the  operation, 
nnless  the  bees  from  two  or  more  stocks  are  united  and  placed  on 
folly  drawn-ont  combs.  They  will  then  take  down  sufficient  food 
in  two  or  three  days  to  last  them  until  the  following  spring, 
when  they  will  come  out  strong,  and  other  things  being  favourable 
will  store  a  surplus  equal  to  any  in  the  apiary. 
Care  should  be  taken  to  keep  only  young  queens.  These  are 
always  to  be  found  in  the  previous  year’s  stock  that  have  swarmed 
this  season,  the  old  queen  always  going  with  the  first  swarm.  Casts 
or  second  swarms  are  also  headed  by  young  queens.  By  marking 
each  skep,  whether  first  or  second  swarms,  no  mistake  will,  be 
made.  Hints  on  driving  bees  have  been  given  in  previous  notes, 
no  more  need  be  said  on  this  subject,  but  open  driving  sbonld 
always  be  practised.  By  this  means  the  old  queen  may  readily  be 
seen  as  she  runs  up  into  the  empty  skep.  She  shonld  at  once  be 
destroyed. 
This  is  not  necessary  if  the  hives  contain  only  young  queens, 
as  two  or  more  colonies  may  be  placed  together  without  any 
fighting  taking  place,  and  the  bees  will  soon  settle  the  queen 
question  amongst  themselves  by  destroying  ail  but  one.  A  fine 
warm  day  should  be  chosen  for  driving  bees  at  this  season,  as  they 
run  much  more  freely  when  there  is  a  high  temperature  than  when 
it  is  cold.  It  is  not  necessary  to  sprinkle  the  bees  that  are  to  be 
united  with  syrup,  flour,  or  any  other  ingredient,  As  they  will 
unite  without  the  loss  of  a  single  bee  if  well  shaken  and  mixed 
together,  or  the  two  or  three  different  hives  of  bees,  or  thrown 
down  in  front  of  the  hive  in  which  they  are  to  remain,  they  will  at 
once  run  in  and  be  a  happy  family  together. 
This  operation  should  not  be  delayed,  but  done  in  the  evening 
of  the  same  day  on  which  they  were  driven.  If  from  any  canse 
they  should  not  be  united  for  several  days  it  will  be  advisable 
to  sprinkle  them  with  a  little  thin  syrup,  or  flour  answers  the 
purpose  equally  well.  All  combs  containing  brood  should  be  cat 
out,  and  fastened  in  the  frames  to  be  batched  out  by  the  bees  ;  this 
will  be  the  means  of  strengthening  the  colony  considerably. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  place  in  the  frames  ;  all  that  is  required  are 
some  narrow  strips  of  tape,  or  raffia,  half  a  dozen  pieces  for  each 
frame  will  be  ample,  &s  the  bees  will  securely  fasten  the  combs  in 
forty-eight  hours.  They  may  then  be  removed,  and  if  the  work 
has  been  properly  carried  out  the  frames  of,  comb  may  remain  in 
the  hive  for  future  use,  as  they  will  be  as  eveu  and  regular  in 
outline  as  if  originally  placed  there  by  the  bees.  Care  sbonld  be 
taken  that  the  comb.s  are  in  the  same  position  they  occupied  in  the 
straw  skep,  as  the  cells  are  so  formed  that  the  honey  would  run 
out  if  placed  npside  down.  The  bees,  of  course,  would  alter  this  ; 
but  it  would  entail  a  great  amount  of  unnecessary  labour. — 
An  English  Bee-keeper. 
■  TRADE  CATALOGUES  RECEIVED. 
W.'CIltifali  &  Sob,  and  12,  Market  Street,  Manche»ter.-*--B«?J».  ' 
Dicksons  &  Co.,  1,  Waterloo  Place,  Edinburgh. — Flower  Booti, 
B.  P.  Dixon  &  Sons,  Hull. — Bulbs. 
J.  Douglas,  Edenslde,  Great  Bookham. — Carnations.  '  '  ■ '  • 
J.  Peed  &  Sons,  West  Norwood,- 
Toklo  NorstTies,  Tofcio.  Japan. — Plants,  Bulbs,  and  Seeds. 
J.  Veitch  &  Sons,  King’s' Bdad,  Chelsea. — Bulbs,  Boses,  Hardy  Trees 
and  Shrub's;  '  ;  ■  '  '' 
Vilmorln,  Andrfeiti,  &  o6',  4,  Qiiai  de  la  M^gisseile,  Paris. — Bulbs," 
B.  8,  WilliatBS  &  Son,  Upper  Hollqway.— and  Trees. 
All  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should  be 
directed  to  “  The  Editor.'’  Letters  addressed  personally  to 
Dr.  Hogg  or .  members  of  the  stfiff  often  remain  unopened 
unavoidably.  We  request  that  no  one  'v^ill  write  privately 
to  any  of  onr  correspondents,  as  doing  so  subjects,  them  to 
unjustifiable  tronble  and  expense,  and  departmental  writers 
are  not  expected  to  answer  any  letters  they  may  -receive  on 
Gardening  and  Bee  subjects,  through  the  post. 
Correspondents  shonld  not  mix  np  on  the  same  sheet  qnestiens 
relating  to  Gardening  and  those  on  Bee  subjects,  and  shonld 
never'  send  more  than  two  or  three  questions  at  once.  All 
ar tidies  intended  for  insertion  should  be  written  on  one  side  of 
the  paper  only.:  We  cannot,  as  a  rule,  reply  to  questions 
through  the  post,  and  we  do  not  underta^  to  return  rejected 
communications.  .  ; 
Ralf-bardy  Annuals  —  Torenla  Fournterl^  QF.').  —  Strictly 
speaking  Torenia  Foumieri  is  a  tropical  plant,  as  it  is  a  native  of  Cochin 
China,  which  is  well  within  the  tropical  zone.  Plants  no  doubt  grow  and 
flower  in  the  open  ground  in  the  sumnaer  in  this  country,  the  same 
as  Balsams  and  Cockscombs.  We  cannot  say  the  jtidgea  were  wrong 
in  disqualifying  a  siaad  of  “hardy  and  half-hardy  annuals ’’ that  con¬ 
tained  a  bunch  of  the  tropical  Torenia  Fonrnieri. 
Various  Questions  (T.  T.'). — Presuming  you  haVe  kept  a  list  of 
the  questions,  we  answer  them  in  order  pf  the  numbers  attached  to  each^ 
1,  No  ;  in  the  absence  of  stipulations.  2,  We  do  not  know  of  a  similat 
work.  3,  Between  b0°  and  60° ;  temperature  must  be  governed  by 
atmospheric  conditions.  4,  No,  unless  he  specially  orders.  5,  Yes. 
‘‘Truffles”  (i?.  J.  B.  iY.).— The  specimens  sent  are  not  Truffias, 
which  are  totally  different,  and  do  not  grow  ”  through  the  grass.”  The 
fungus  yon  have  found  appears  to  be  one  of  the  small  Puff-balls  (Lycor 
perdon),  but  the  reverse  of  young  and  fresh,  and  not  wholesome  in  its 
present  condition. 
Insect  on  Chrysantbemum  (W.  JO.) — The  green  insect  is 
Lygus  viridis,  or  green  plant  bug,  which  is  common  this  season  on  a 
great  variety  of  plants,  especially  Lime  trees.  It  is  a  very  pretty 
creature,  and  does  not  eat  the  leaves  of  plants,  bat  destroys  their  tissnes 
by  sucking  the  juices.  It  is  sometimes  found  on  Chcysanthcmums,  but 
the  more  common  species  is  the  Hop  bug  (Lygus  umbellatarum),  which 
is  brownish  in  colour,  and  in  1893  swarmed  on  Chrysanthemums  in 
Kent,  having  migrated  from  the  Hop  grounds.  It  is  also  very  abundant 
this  seasm,  doing  the  plants  considerable  injury  by  sucking  the  juice  of 
the  leaves,  causing  them  to  become  brown  and  shrivelled  as  if  eaten.  It  is 
readily  destroyed  by  fumigation  with  tobacco,  dusting  with  tobacco 
powder,  or  syringing  or  spn.ying  with  tobacco  water.  , 
Ramondla  pyrenalca  — The  plant  you  name  inhabits 
a  somewhat  variod  area  in  the  Pyrenean  and  Pi^montese  Alps,  oft-timrs 
on  the  steep  and  almost  perpendicnlar  faces  of  the  rocks.  When  to 
situated,  however,  it  is  generally  where  moisture  is  in  abundance,  as  it 
is  impatient  of  drought,  preferring  protection  from  hot  sun.  This, 
however,  is  of  not  to  great  moment  as  a  plentiful  supply  of  moisture  in 
a  well-drained  position.  Plant  it  in  equal  parts  of  peat  and  loam, 
together  with  a  liberal  addition  of  silver  sand  or  grit — it  delights  to 
send  its  tiny  fibres  into  moist  sand — and  success  will  invariably  attend 
the  operation.  From  its  extremely  prostrate  babit  of  growth  It  is  not 
to  be  recommended  as  a  border  plant,  since  heavy  rains  keep  the  plant 
almost  wholly  covered  with  earth,  but  on  a  mound  above  the  ordinary 
level  it  may  be  made  as  equally  at  home  as  in  its  irative  habitat.-  It  is 
chiefiy  increased  from  aee*^!,  thbugh  now  and  then  gome  few  plants  throw 
ont  offsets  ;  but  to  detach  these  wich  roots  is  a  very  dangerous  operation, 
and  should  always  be  avoided.  Sow  the  seed  as  soon  as  ripe.  This  will 
be  about  the  middle  of  August,  and  the  seedlings  will  apx)ear  the  follov?- 
ing  spring.  Do  not  be  discouraged  by  the  slow  growth  of  seedlings, 
which  is  remarkable.  When  the  seedlings  are  of  sufficient  size  they 
may  either  be  potted  or  pricked  ont  in  small  colonies  on  the  rockery. 
