62 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  1»,  1897. 
four  stakes  should  be  placed  to  each  plant,  and  some  of  the  best  placed 
branches  be  fastened  to  these,  the  rest  being  cut  away,  or  better  still 
early  pinched  out  Dahlias  require  abundance  of  moisture  at  the  roots, 
a  good  malch  of  strawy  litter  further  serving  to  keep  the  ground  cool 
and  moist. 
Gladioli. — Stakes  shouli  be  placed  to  these  before  the  spikes 
become  heavy,  frequent  syriugings  and  waterings  also  being  necessary 
if  fine  spikes  and  large  flowers  are  desired.  In  order  to  have  the  spikes 
for  exhibition  with  the  flower,*  well  togetljer  and  all  facing  one  way 
they  ought  to  be  enclosed  in  a  V-shaped  trough,  made  by  nailing  two 
long  thin  pieces  of  board  about  4  inches  wide  to  a  strong  stake.  With 
the  aid  of  these  troughs  it  will  also  be  an  easy  matter  to  shade  the 
lower  flowers  with  newspaper,  with  a  view  to  keep  them  fresh  and  of 
good  colour  to  match  the  upper  flowers. 
m  BEE-KE)EPER.^ 
ki  -.1  -1  •  1  •  1 -1 .1 .1  -1- 1  -  --i.i-rTr-i-t-riTH  (l^ 
.  .  Honey  Pkospects, 
The  first  week  in  July  has  been  dull  and  cold,  and  as  there 
has  been  little  sunshine,  this  combined  with  a  low  temperature 
and  high  winds  has  kept  the  bees  comparatively  idle.  This  is  dis¬ 
couraging  to  bee-keepers,  as  in  this  district  the  bee  forage  has  been 
better  than  usual.  The  white  Clover  is  still  a  mass  of  bloom,  and 
the  Limes  are  just  opening  their  flowers  ;  but  unless  a  change 
soon  takes  place  in  the  weather  the  honey  crop  will  be  a  light, 
one.  It,  however,  illustrates  what  I  have  often  stated — that, 
given  fine  weather,  bee-keepers  in  this  country  could  hold 
their  own  both  in  quantity  and  quality  with  bee-keepers  in  any 
part  of  the  world.  In  some  countries  fine  bright  weather  may  be 
depended  on  for  several  weeks  in  succession,  and  a  large  surplus  of 
honey  is  stored  in  consequence,  although  the  fiowers  from  which 
the  finest  samples  of  honey  are  obtained  are  not  nearly  as  plentiful 
as  during  the  honey  flow  in  favoured  districts  in  this  country. 
As  is  well  known  to  all  bee-keepers,  white  Clover  yields  a 
superior  sample  of  honey  ;  and  showing  to  what  an  extent  it  is 
cultivated  in  some  parts  of  the  country,  I  may  state  that  within  a 
radius  of  two  miles  of  my  apiary  there  is  nearly,  if  not  quite, 
500  acres  grown.  Bae-keepers  can  imagine  the  benefit  bees  derive 
from  such  a  source  if  the  all-important  factor  the  weather  is 
favourable  ;  but  when  day  after  day  is  sunless,  or  nearly  so,  and 
the  flowers  are  gradually  dying  after  being  developed  for  several 
weeks  without  the  bees  obtaining  any  benefit  from  them,  it  is 
discouraging. 
From  numerous  letters  received,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the 
honey  harvest  has  been  much  better  in  the  south  and  west  of 
England  than  it  has  been  in  the  northern  and  midland  counties. 
“S.T.,"  writing  on  the  30th  ult.,  lays,  “I  am  busy  extracting 
from  full  sized  frames  worked  on  the  doubling  system,  as  advocated 
in  the  Journal  of  Horticulture.  My  first  eleven  frames  gave  me 
60  lbs.  of  beautiful  honey.  My  numerous  shallow  frames  and 
sections  are  well  sealed  over.  I,  however,  prefer  the  standard 
frame  for  doubling,  and  shall  use  it  more  largely  in  the  future,  as  a 
greater  bulk  of  honey  is  obtained,  and  not  so  much  risk  from  the 
bees  swarming.”  The  above  is  very  gratifying,  and  shows  what 
can  be  done  under  good  management,  where  the  bee  forage  was 
at  least  a  fortnight  earlier  than  in  this  district  ;  and  as  much  more 
favourable  weather  for  honey  production  prevailed  at  that  time,  it 
will  doubtless  be  found  at  the  end  of  the  season  that  bees  in  the 
more  forward  districts  will  have  done  much  better  than  those  in 
the  later  parts  of  the  country. 
Bees  in  Straw  Skeps. 
Bses  that  are  in  skeps,  whether  old  stocks  or  swarms,  may  be 
utilised  in  many  different  ways  without  destroying  the  bees,  and  a 
much  larger  surplus  can  be  obtained  than  by  working  on  the 
orthodox  system  associated  with  straw  skeps.  If  a  glass  super  is 
placed  on  the  top  of  skep,  which  is  still  done  by  many  bee-keepers, 
at  the  most  it  will  only  hold  a  few  pounds  of  honey.  The  same 
may  be  said  if  the  bees  are  allowed  to  swarm,  and  after  they  have 
filled  the  skep  with  combs  no  extra  room  is  provided  for  them.  Of 
course  under  the  modern  system  a  crate  of  sections  may  be  worked 
on  the  top  of  a  skep  and  be  as  well  finished  off  as  those  placed  in 
an  elaborate  and  more  expensive  bar-frame  hive. 
At  the  present  time  I  have  several  straw  skeps  that  for  weight 
of  honey  will  compare  favourably  with  my  frame  hives.  Although 
the  honey  may  not  be  of  as  good  quality  according  to  modern 
ideas,  still  some  of  my  customers  ask  for  it ;  there  is  therefore  no 
difficulty  in  finding  a  market  for  it  when  obtained.  Early  in  the 
spring  the  beei  in  straw  skeps  were  encouraged  to  breed  early  by 
being  fed  daily,  and  as  they  were  kept  warm  they  increased  at  a 
rapid  rate.  By  the  first  week  in  May  they  were  ready  for  swarm¬ 
ing,  An  artificial  swarm  was  then  taken  from  each  in  the  usual 
manner,  care  being  taken  that  sufficient  bees  were  left  in  the 
skeps  to  cover  the  brood,  and  to  raise  a  young  queen.  The 
bees  so  obtained  were  placed  in  frame  hives  with  fully  drawn-out 
combs,  each  stock  being  given  a  frame  of  brood  taken  from  a 
strong  colony.  They  increased  at  a  rapid  rate,  and  were  after¬ 
wards  used  to  obtain  a  surplus  in  the  usual  manner. 
Bees  from  Skeps  to  Frame  Hives. 
Three  weeks  after  the  queen  and  worker  bees  were  driven  from 
straw  skeps  the  same  operation  was  again  repeated,  until  the  young 
queen,  which  had  now  hatched  out,  was  seen  to  run  up  into  the 
empty  skep  with  her  attendants.  These  were  then  shaken  into  a 
skep  filled  with  clean  combs,  the  hole  in  the  crown  being  covered 
with  a  piece  of  queen-excluder  zinc.  The  skep  from  which  the 
queen  and  bees  had  been  driven  was  then  placed  on  the  top  of  skep 
containing  the  queen,  the  latter  being  kept  in  the  bottom  skep  by 
the  excluder  zinc  on  the  top,  through  which  the  bees  would  gain 
access  to  the  combi  in  the  skep,  which  now  formed  a  super.  Within 
a  few  days  the  young  queen  had  become  fecundated,  and  was 
laying.  As  soon  as  the  combs  were  filled  with  brood  the  driving 
process  was  again  repeated  uutil  the  queen  was  seen  to  run  up 
into  the  empty  skep. 
The  queen  and  bees  were  then  placed  in  a  frame  hive  on 
frames  of  fully  drawn-out  combs,  a  sheet  of  queen-excluder  zinc 
being  placed  on  the  top  of  frames.  The  two  straw  skeps  were 
then  placed  on  top  of  frame  hive  and  covered  up  warm.  The 
queen  is  now  filling  the  frame  hive  with  brood,  the  honey  being 
taken  into  the  skeps  which  form  supers  over  the  brood  nest.  When 
the  honey  flow  is  over  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  remove  the  skeps 
a  short  distance  from  their  stand,  and  the  bees  will  fly  home,  or 
they  may  be  driven  in  the  usnal  manner.  A  strong  colony  headed 
by  a  young  fertile  queen  will  now  be  in  the  frame  hive,  which  if 
supplied  with  sufficient  stores  will  doubtless  winter  well  and  come 
out  strong  and  healthy  in  the  spring,  and  may  then  be  used  for 
whatever  purpose  they  are  required. 
This  is  a  simple  way  of  working  bees  from  skeps  into  frame 
hives,  as  the  operation  does  not  take  many  minutes  to  perform,  for 
directly  the  queen  is  seen  to  run  up  into  empty  skep  the  drumming 
should  cease,  as  the  workers  will  not  leave  the  queen  without 
supplying  her  with  plenty  of  attendants.  If  there  is  an  objection 
to  honey  obtained  from  a  straw  skep  it  may  be  removed  from  the 
top  of  frame  hive  as  soon  as  the  brood  is  all  hatched  out,  and  a 
crate  of  sections  or  shallow  frames  placed  on  the  top  instead  of 
straw  skep. — An  English  Bee-keeper. 
All  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should,  until 
further  notice,  be  directed  to*  “  The  Editor,'’  5,  Rose  Hill 
Road,  Wandsworth,  London,  S.  TF.  It  is  requested  that  no 
one  will  write  privately  to  any  of  our  correspondents,  seeking 
information  cn  matters  discussed  in  this  Journal,  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.  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. 
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  communications 
which,  for  any  reason,  cannot  be  inserted. 
Thrlps  on  Vines  (A.  F.). — The  best  means  oE  dealing  with  tbripa 
on  Vines  is  to  fumigate  with  tobacco  paper  or  vaporise  with  nicotine 
essence.  There  are  self-acting  fumigation  rolls  and  other  advertised 
preparations,  all  answering  for  the  destruction  of  thrips.  It  is  necessary, 
however,  to  repeat  the  fumigation,  at  intervals  of  about  four  days,  two 
or  three  times,  so  as  to  destroy  any  batching  out  from  the  eggs,  which 
are  not  reached  destructively  by  the  fumigation  or  vaporisation.  Some¬ 
times,  also,  stray  thrips  escape  being  killed,  hence  the  need  of  following 
up  so  as  to  get  rid  of  the  pests  effectively.  With  care,  neither  the  smoke 
nor  vapour  will  injure  the  foliage  ;  but,  of  course,  it  must  not  be  overdone, 
and  the  foliage  must  be  dry. 
