190 
rorrnA^AL  op  tiORTiatiLTnnp  and  oottaqe  garddneu. 
August  26,  18d8, 
be  interesting  to  experiment  in  the  handling,  and  changing  of  old 
qaeens  from  one  hive  to  the  other  without  any  preparation,  and 
note  the  result,  as  some  bee*keepers  are  very  particular  about  the 
handling  of  their  queens,  giving  as  a  reason  that  if  handled  by  those 
manipulating  them  they  will  be  killed. 
Balling  Queens. 
As  this  is  usually  the  result  of  careless  management,  I  was 
quite  prepared  to  find  all  the  queens  balled  before  they  had  been 
introduced  to  a  colony  of  strange  bees  naany  minutes.  I  operated 
on  three  stock*.  Going  to  the  first  one  I  removed  tho  queen, 
taking  her  between  my  finger  and  thumb,  placing  her  in  an  empty 
match  box.  The  second  hive  was  treated  in  the  same  manner,  but 
instead  of  being  put  in  the  match  box  she  was  at  once  placed 
amongst  the  bees  on  a  frame  of  brood  and  given  to  the  bees  of  the 
first  hive  operated  on.  The  third  stock  was  treated  on  similar 
lines,  the  queen  being  given  to  No,  2  hive,  and  the  queen  from 
No.  1  being  introduced  to  No.  3.  The  queens  were  purposely  held 
in  the  open  hand  for  at  least  half  a  minute  before  placing  them 
amongst  the  strange  bees.  This  took  place  in  the  middle  of  the  day, 
and  all  were  covered  up  warm  and  left  alone  for  forty  minutes. 
Each  colony  was  then  examined.  No.  1  and  No.  3  were 
apparently  all  right,  but  on  carefully  going  through  No.  2  the 
queen  wai  found  balled  on  the  floor  of  the  hive.  She  was  at  once 
liberated,  the  bees  being  driven  from  her  with  a  few  puffs  of  smoke 
after  she  had  been  taken  from  the  centre  of  the  cluster  by  hand, 
as  when  balling  the  queen  in  this  manner  smoke  has  but  little 
effect  on  them.  The  hive  was  again  closed  and  examined  half  an 
hour  afterwards ;  the  queen  was  again  balled,  and  appeared  to  be 
getting  weak  ;  she  was  again  liberated,  and  then  left  to  her  fate, 
and  was  found  dead  outside  the  hive  the  following  morning. 
The  queens  in  the  remaining  two  hives  were  found  to  be  all 
right,  and  were  afterwards  removed,  and  young  queens  successfully 
introduced.  I  quite  expected  all  the  queens  introduced  in  this 
manner  would  have  been  immediately  balled,  and  eventually 
destroyed.  It,  however,  shows  that  queens  may  sometimes  be 
introduced  with  little  trouble  and  a  fair  chance  of  succes*.  I  do 
not  recommend  this  plan,  as  it  is  quite  easy  to  take  a  frame  of 
brood,  and  the  adhering  queen  and  bees,  and  give  them  to  a 
qaeenless  colony  with  a  much  greater  chance  of  success. 
Direct  Introduction. 
This  plan  I  prefer  and  usually  practise,  and  being  *0  simple  and 
safe  in  its  working  any  novice  may  successfully  introduce  a  young 
fertile  queen  without  fear  of  losing  her.  But  care  must  be  taken 
in  first  removing  the  old  queen,  or  the  experiment  will  end  in 
disaster.  This  is  best  done  by  examining  the  combs  about  mid-day, 
and  as  bees  are  inclined  to  be  spiteful  at  this  season  when  outdoor 
supplies  are  getting  short,  it  is  advisable  to  use  a  little  smoke  in 
preference  to  carbolic  cloths,  as  the  latter  will  drive  the  bees  to 
the  floor  board  more  than  the  former.  After  removing  the  queen 
replace  the  frames  in  the  same  position  they  previously  occupied 
in  the  hive,  and  cover  them  up  warm.  Then  go  to  the  hive  in 
which  the  young  queen  has  been  reared,  after  quieting  the  bees 
with  a  little  smoke,  the  less  used  the  better.  Commence  by  first 
removing  the  centre  combs,  the  queen  is  usually  found  on  one  of 
these,  and  when  found  place  her  in  a  small  box  quite  alone  (a  match 
box  answers  the  purpose  capitally).  Place  the  box  containing  the 
young  queen  in  a  warm  place  until  evening,  the  later  the  better,  then 
take  a  light  and  the  box  containing  the  young  queen  to  the  stock 
from  which  the  old  queen  had  been  removed  ;  lift  a  corner  of  the 
quilt,  and  with  a  puff  or  two  of  smoke  drive  the  bees  down  between 
the  frames,  open  the  box,  and  allow  the  queen  to  run  down, 
replace  the  qnilt  and  coverings,  and  do  not  examine  the  stock  for 
at  least  forty-eight  hours.  By  this  means  queens  may  be  success¬ 
fully  introduced  without  a  failure. 
Caging  Queens. 
Some  bee  keepers  prefer  this  system  to  any  other,  and  as  it  has 
the  advantage  of  oeing  safe  it  is  probably  better  known  than  any 
other  ;  still  it  is  not  perfect,  and  many  instances  have  come  under 
my  notice  where  bees  have  not  taken  nearly  as  readily  to  queens 
introduced  in  this  manner  as  in  the  former.  It  is  sometimes  an 
advantage  to  a  bee-keeper  to  be  able  to  introduce  a  queen  in  the 
morning  instead  of  waiting  until  night ;  caging  the  young  queens  in 
that  case  is  a  very  simple  matter. 
I’here  are  various  cages  used  for  the  purpose,  but  those  I  use 
are  home  made,  and  answer  the  purpose  well.  Take  a  piece  of 
perforated  zinc  about  3  inches  square,  turn  the  edges  down  about 
half  an  inch,  this  is  placed  over  the  queen,  and  is  pressed  firmly 
into  the  comb  ;  whilst  this  is  being  done  the  queen  and  comb  should 
be  taken  into  a  room,  otherwise  she  may  fly  away  and  be  lost. 
Forty-eight  hours  afterwards  liberate  her,  and  the  bees  will  take 
readily  to  her.  If  from  any  cause  the  bees  are  inclined  to  ball  her 
cage  her  again  for  twenty-four  hours. — An  English  Bee-keeper. 
TRADE  CATALOGUES  RECEIVED. 
J .  Carter  &  Co.,  High  Holborn,  London. — Bulbs. 
Cor.ry  &  Co.’ (Limited),  13,  Finsbury  Street,  E.C.—  Wholesale  List  of 
Sundries. 
Fisher,  Son  &  S’bray,  Handsworth,  Sheffield.— 
J.  Laing  &  Sons,  Forest  Hill. — Bulbs. 
Paul  &  Son,  Waltham  Ctoa.— Bulbs  and  Winter  Flotoers, 
All  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should  be 
directed  to  “  The  Editor.’’  Letters  addressed  personally  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,  and  departmental  writers 
are  not  expected  to  answer  any  letters  they  may  receive  on 
Gardening  and  Bee  subjects,  through  the  post. 
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,  as  a  rule,  reply  to  questions 
through  the  post,  and  we  do  not  undertake  to  return  rejected 
communications. 
Cucumber  Roots  Diseased  {Bayner  JlilV). — A  full  reply  to  your 
question  will  be  found  on  page  179. 
Potatoes  (  W,  J.,  Winton'). — The  examples  you  send  show  the  buds 
on  the  stem  turning  into  tubers.  Though  we  have  seen  instances  of  this 
before,  yours  are  exceptionally  marked. 
Onion  for  iXutumn  Sowlngr  (27.  T.  J7.). — The  best  Onion  for 
autumn  sowing,  having  regard  to  globe  shape,  good  keeping,  and  mild 
flavour,  is  Giant  Rocca,  The  bulb  is  large,  roundish,  regnlar  in  outline  ; 
flesh  white,  thick,  and  of  good  quality.  A  good  strain  is  imperative. 
Exhibiting:  Stove  and  Greenhouse  Flowers  (T.  B.  H.'). — We 
should  consider  it  very  unsafe  to  include  Lilies  of  the  Valley  in  a  class 
for  three  bunches  of  stove  and  greenhouse  flowers  at  the  present  time. 
They  are  hardy  plants  and  no  forciug  is  required,  but  the  reverse,  in 
having  them  in  flower  in  the  summer.  Some  judges  might  possibly 
admit  them,  but  others  would  not,  and  when  the  “  decision  of  the  judges 
is  final  ”  it  would  be  useless  appealing  against  disqualification  in  such  a 
case.  Roses,  either  s  aged  as  you  suggest  or  in  any  other  way,  would 
not  be  eligible  for  the  class  in  question. 
Rootlnr  Top  of  Dracaena  QBeader'). — In  the  absence  of  bottom 
heat  we  can  only  suggest  that  you  try  placing  the  top  in  a  bottle  of 
water  containing  few  nodules  of  charcoal  to  keep  the  water  sweet.  We 
have  rooted  healthy  tops  of  Draesnaa  easily  by  this  method,  standing 
the  bottles  on  the  hot-water  pipes,  though  rather  earlier  in  the  season. 
Tops  of  medium  size  also  root  well  inserted  in  sandy  soil  in  3  or  4-inch 
pots  plunged  to  the  rim  in  a  mild  hotbed,  giving  shade  as  necessary. 
Some  method  of  famishing  bottom  heat,  or  a  moist  warm  temperature, 
is  almost  essential  for  rooting  Dracaenas. 
Claas  for  Vucca  fllamentosa  (A  Constant  Beader). — The  Yuccas 
are  included  in  the  lists  of  hardy  perennials  or  herbaceous  plants,  and 
admissible  at  shows  in  collections  under  that  class  of  the  schedules. 
Some  Yuccas,  however,  have  stems,  such  as  Y.  gloriosa  (4  to  6  feet  high 
when  old)  aud  Y.  filifers  (trunk  50  feet  high  and  2  to  3  feet  in  diameter), 
these,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  are  shrubs  or  trees,  yet  the  first  is 
sometimes  shown  in  a  collection  of  he’’baceous  plants.  Yucca  filamen- 
tosa,  on  the  other  hand,  is  an  evergreen  herbaceous  plant,  being  stemless 
or  nearly  so,  and  cannot  possibly  be  construed  into  anything  else  than 
“  herbaceous.” 
Soot  Water  (J^emd). — Gardeners  make  this  by  tying  soot  in  an  old 
sack  or  a  piece  o(  rough  canvas  and  suspend  it  in  a  tub  of  water,  with 
the  aid  of  a  stone  at  first  if  the  soot  does  not  sink  so  quickly  as  they 
wish.  The  water  soon  becomes  discoloured,  and  is  dark  or  light  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  relative  proportions  of  the  soot  and  the  water.  Usually  abont 
a  peck  of  soot  is  placed  in  a  40  or  a  60  gallon  tub,  and  as  the  liquid  is 
taken  out  more  water  is  added,  until  the  virtues  of  the  soot  are  extracted, 
the  bag  being  eventually  shaken  or  squeezed  to  aid  the  extraction  if 
necessary.  Soot  water  should  be  perfectly  clear,  and  may  be  clarified 
by  adding  some  lumps  of  lime,  stirring  well,  then  allowing  all  particle* 
to  settle  to  the  bottom,  and  scum  to  form  on  the  surface,  and  this 
skimmed  off  the  soot  water  is  clear.  We  have  often  used  it  much 
diluted  for  syringing  purposes  beneficially,  and  it  has  left  no  sediment. 
As  a  liquid  manure  it  should  be  diluted  to  about  the  colour  of  pale  ale, 
for  syringing  it  should  be  paler  still.  Insects  do  not  like  it,  while  it  is 
beneficial  to  many  plants  and  trees. 
