458 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  1,  1899. 
As  the  time  is  rapidly  approaching  when  the  majority  of  the 
stocks  in  the  apia'y  will  he  overflowing  with  bees,  it  will  be  necessary 
for  bee-keepers  to  decide  how  many  extra  colonies  are  required  to 
bring  the  apiary  to  its  full  strength.  If  a  small  increase  only  is 
desired,  a  surplus  of  honey  may  also  be  obtained  should  the  weather 
be  favourable  when  the  honey  flow  comes.  One  important  fact 
should  always  be  kept  in  mind  where  the  honey  harvest  is  chiefly 
obtained  from  the  white  Clover — that  only  in  exceptional  seasons  is  it 
possible  to  obtain  an  increase  of  stocks  as  well  as  a  large  surplus  of 
honey  from  a  colony,  however  strong  it  may  appear  to  be.  Our 
seasons  are  too  short  to  allow  the  bees  to  waste  their  time  and  energy 
in  swarming.  Hence  the  reason  ave  so  strongly  advocate  the  building 
up  of  strong  stocks,  that  will  take  full  advantage  of  every  bright  day 
when  the  nectar  may  be  obtained  from  the  innumerable  open  flowers 
within  flight  of  the  apiary. 
The  plan  we  have  adopted — with  complete  success  when  working 
for  an  increase  as  \vell  as  a  surplus — was  to  select  a  given  number  of 
hives  which  were  crowded  with  bees,  each  colony  being  headed  by  a 
queen  reared  the  previous  season.  They  received  similar  treatment  to 
those  intended  for  honey  production.  Instead,  however,  of  providing 
them  with  extra  frames  slightly  in  advance  of  their  requirements,  we 
usually  confined  them  to  ten  frames,  as  from  a  hive  with  this  amount 
of  breecing  space  a  strong  swarm  can  be  obtained.  Although  a  stock 
may  be  crowded  w'ith  bees,  and  be  ready  for  swarming  at  an  early 
date,  all  will  depend  on  the  weather  whether  they  swarm  or  not.  If 
it  should  be  cold  and  wet,  as  it  has  been  for  several  days  past  in  this 
district  (South  Yorkshire),  feeding  must  not  be  neglected,  otherwise 
they  will  deteriorate  even  more  rapidly  than  they  increased.  The 
first  symptom  of  shortness  of  stores  in  a  hive  at  this  season  is  the 
casting  out  of  the  young  grubs  on  to  the  alighting  board.  This  may 
be  at  once  stopped  by  feeding  with  warm  syrup  in  the  evening. 
Aetificial  Swarming. 
Instead  of  waiting  for  the  bees  to  swarm  naturally,  artificml 
swarming  must  be  induced.  It,  however,  requires  to  be  done  in  quite 
a  different  manner  when  the  bees  are  kept  in  the  modern  frame  hive 
from  that  practised  with  the  straw  skep.  In  the  latter  case  they  require 
drumming  similar  to  driving  bees  to  obtain  their  honey  in  the  autumn. 
But  with  frame  hives,  it  may  be  termed  dividing  a  stock. 
In  commencing  operations,  the  first  thing  to  do  is  to  choose  a 
warm,  bright  day,  when  numerous  bees  are  on  the  wing,  and  it  will 
thus  be  much  easier  to  find  the  queen.  Remove  the  coverings  from 
the  tops  of  the  frames,  using  a  little  smoke  to  drive  the  bees  down 
between  the  frames.  The  less  smoke  used  the  better.  If  the  operator 
is  gentle  in  his  movements,  it  is  surprising  how  easily  bees  may  be 
handled  at  this  season  if  a  high  temperature  prevails. 
Lift  out  the  combs,  and  carefully  examine  each  one  until  the  queen 
is  found.  The  comb  with  the  queen  and  the  adhering  bees  should 
then  be  placed  in  an  empty  hive,  another  comb  with  the  adhering 
bees,  and  a  frame  of  comb  foundation,  or  fully  drawn  out  comb,  should 
be  placed  alongside,  and  the  division  board  closed  up.  If  the  combs 
are  not  well  covered  shake  the  bees  off  another  comb  from  the  original 
hive.  The  hive  containing  the  queen  and  bees  should  then  be  placed 
on  a  separate  stand. 
Returning  to  the  original  stock  from  which  the  queen  was  removed, 
lift  out  each  frame  and  slightly  notch  the  bottom  edge  of  the  combs 
containing  newly  laid  eggs  ;  a  few  holes  may  with  advantage  be  cut 
through  the  combs.  At  each  place  a  (]ueen  cell  will  be  formed.  Draw 
the  division  board  close  up  to  the  combs,  and  ten  days  afterwards 
divide  the  colony  into  as  many  nucleus  hives  as  may  be  required. — 
An  English  Bee-keeper. 
Manchester  Show. — When  our  reporter  left  the  Show,  a  splendid 
collection  of  Gloxinias,  staged  by  Mr.  John  Upton,  The  Nurseries, 
Irlam,  had  not  been  noticed.  As  this  grower  has  been  successful  in 
improving  the  Gloxinia,  the  silver  medal  awarded  by  the  Council  is 
richly  deserved. 
Daffodils  in  Midlothian. — In  the  paragraph  dealing  with  the 
newer  varieties  of  the  great  trumpet  Daffodils  at  Valleyfield,  it  should 
have  read,  “  A  large  batch  of  the  dapper  J.  B.  M.  Camm,  evidently  in 
high  favour  with  Mr.  Cowan  ;  beside  him,  somewhat  later  in  bloom, 
Mrs.  J.  B.  M.,  a  sweetly-mated  pair  of  relative  size  not  unusual  in  actual 
life.”  Mrs.  George  Cammell  is  correct,  not  Cannell. — A  Northern 
Amateur. 
All  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should,  until 
further  notice,  be  directed  to  “  The  Editor,”  8,  Rose  HiH  Road, 
Wandswortb,  S.W.,  and  BTOT  to  12,  Mitre  Court  chambers. 
Fleet  Street.  It  is  requested  that  no  one  will  write  privately  to 
any  of  our  correspondents,  seeking  information  on  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.  Letters  of  inquiry  must  be  accompanied  by 
the  names  and  addresses  of  the  writers,  but  these  will  neither  be 
published  nor  disclosed  when  initials  or  nom  de  plvmes  are  given 
for  the  purpose  of  replies. 
Soil  for  Grape  Growing  (Constant  Header). — The  proper  proportions 
of  the  articles  named  by  Mr.  Abbey  on  April  27th,  page  324,  to  make  a 
compost  for  Grape  growing  are — five  barrowloads  of  loam,  one  barrnwload 
each  of  lime  rubbish,  charred  earth  or  wood  ashes,  and  horse  droppings, 
and  a  peck  of  soot,  or  one  part  in  ninety-six  of  the  latter  to  the  compost. 
Thus  for  any  quantity  ot  soil  the  proportion  of  soot  may  readily  be 
ascertained. 
Sowing  Kunner  and  Dwarf  Kidney  Beans  in  Boxes  (E,  T.  H.). — We 
do  not  consider  that  sowing  these  in  boxes  and  when  large  enough 
transplanting  to  their  proper  quarters  belter  than  sowing  the  seed  in  the 
ground.  Sowing  in  pots  and  turning  out  the  plants  with  the  balls 
of  roots  entire  is  better  practice  than  the  sowing  in  boxes  and  trans¬ 
planting  ;  but  the  plan  is  only  resorted  to  for  the  sake  of  earliness,  not 
for  general  crops,  which  are  best  sown  where  the  plants  are  to  remain 
for  bearing. 
Newly-made  Carden  Infested  with  Wirewonn  (C.  G.). — To  save  the 
crops  we  should  at  once  strew  rape  dust  on  the  ground  at  the  rate  of 
5  cwt.  per  acre,  3^  lb.  per  rod,  and  follow  in  the  course  of  a  few  days  with 
the  mixture  you  have  been  u^ing — namely,  two  parts  kainit  and  one  part 
nitrate  of  soda,  both  crushed  very  fine,  using  3^  lbs.  of  the  mixture  per 
rod.  The  rape  dust  will  bring  the  grubs  up  to  feed,  and  the  other 
mixture  ought  to  destroy  them  ;  at  any  rate,  both  mixtures  will  help  the 
crop.  When  the  land  is  clear  use  a  dressing  forthwith  of  mustard  dross, 
^  oz.  per  square  yard,  and  point-in  very  lightly.  You  may  crop  the  land 
shortly  afterwards,  there  not  being  any  occasion  to  let  the  land  lie  fallow, 
or  only  tor  a  few  days.  The  mustard  dross,  had  from  the  mustard 
manufacturers,  must  not  be  used  on  growing  crops,  or  in  a  much  less 
quantity,  say,  J  oz.  per  square  yard. 
Diseased  Tomato  Plant  (Grower). — The  plant  is  affected  by  “droop¬ 
ing”  or  “sleepy”  disease  fungus,  Fusarium  lycopersici,  which  has  appa¬ 
rently  entered  the  Tomato  plant  from  within — that  is,  has  gone  over  in 
the  seed.  The  root  stem  and  roots  are  perfectly  healthy.  But  near  the 
first  truss  of  bloom  the  mycelial  hyphse  of  the  fungus  has  attained 
considerable  development,  extended  (juife  half  and  in  some  places  three- 
parts  round  the  stem,  easily  recognised  by  the  brown  colour  when  cut 
through.  Above  this  point  the  fungal  hyphae  or  mycelium  has  quite 
surrounded  the  stem  and  cut  off  the  supply  of  sap  to  a  great  extent,  thus 
causing  the  drooping  of  the  foliage  and  ultimate  collapse  of  the  plant. 
One  of  the  largest  grow'ers  of  Tomatoes  in  the  country  admits  little 
trouble  from  the  disease  where  lime  or  basic  slag  and  kainit  have  been  used 
as  preventives.  Strengthening  the  plant  by  judicious  applications  of 
mineral  substances  to  the  soil,  careful  selecting  of  seeds  from  healthy 
plants,  rejecting  all  weaklings  in  potting,  growing  sturdily',  avoiding  too 
moist  and  close  an  atmosphere,  appear  to  be  the  panacea  for  this  disease. 
Mulching  Fruit  Trees— Grass  versus  Manure  (F.  H.). — The  mulching 
with  manure  is  the  better  practice,  and  certainly  pays  in  commercial 
culture  after  the  trees  come  into  bearing  and  are  not  made  too  vigorous 
by  the  applications.  It  supplies  the  essential  elements  of  nutrition  in  a 
steady  manner,  and  favours  the  abstraction  of  moisture  from  the  atmo¬ 
sphere,  as  well  as  the  conservation  of  water  in  the  soil  and  near  the 
surface  where  the  roots  are  situated,  or  should  be,  for  health  and  fertility. 
The  grass  acts  usefully  in  the  same  way,  but  in  a  less  marked  degree, 
as  manure.  If  the  trees  are  vigorous  we  should  certainly  prefer  the 
grass  to  the  manure.  Indeed,  we  have  used  it  very  extensively  for 
mulching  fruit  bushes  and  trees,  and  found  it  advantageous  in  con¬ 
serving  the  soil  moisture  and  in  supplying  humus  to  the  land.  It  decays 
and  yields  nutrient  matter,  which  can  be  supplemented  by  dressings  of 
fertilisers — superphosphate  and  kainit  in  equal  parts,  applied  in  autumn 
at  the  rate  of  lbs.  per  rod,  and  in  spring  when  the  buds  start,  apply 
nitrate  of  soda.  If  lb,  per  rod.  The  superphosphate  and  kainit  mixture 
may  be  pointed  in  along  with  the  remains  of  the  mulching  of  grass, 
thus  being  equal  to,  or  better  than  a  dressing  of  manure,  and  the  nitrate 
of  soda  left  on  the  surface,  but  applied  when  this  is  moist,  never  when 
the  ground  is  dry. 
