August  16,  1900. 
163 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER 
Mm?. 
HE)  BE)E-KE)EPER. 
.  I  -  , .  I  .  r  -  T  .  1  «  T  V  I .  I  .  I  .  r- 1 .  r~ 
I 
The  End  of  the  Season. 
The  unfavourable  weather  experienced  throughout  Ihe  country 
during  the  first  week  of  August  has  kept  the  bees  confined  to  their 
hives.  Vegetation  is  advancing  at  a  rapid  rate.  The  rain,  however, 
has  come  tco  late  to  be  of  any  benefit  to  bee-keepers,  as  with  the 
exception  of  the  Heather  the  honey  harvest  is  at  an  end.  The  past 
season  has  been  an  indifferent  one  for  honey  production,  very  little 
having  been  stored  from  the  usual  sources.  Bee-keepers  whose  stocks 
were  strong  and  in  a  forward  condition  obtained  the  greatest  benefit, 
as  many  of  our  hardy  trees  were  late  in  flowering.  The  bees  were 
thus  enabled  to  store  a  surplus  much  earlier  than  has  been  tl  e  case  in 
former  years. 
All  surplus  chambers  should  now  receive  attention,  otherwise  the 
honey  will  be  carried  down  into  the  brood  nest.  There  are  many 
flowers  which  produce  honey  till  quite  late  in  the  autumn,  but  not  in 
sufficient  quantity  for  the  bees  to  store  a  surplus.  If  they  obtain 
enough  for  their  daily  requirements  it  is  as  much  as  can  be  expected  : 
in  some  districts  they  will  not  do  this.  If  the  various  colonies  are 
not  well  supplied,  with  stores  breeding  will  cease,  and  this  will  be 
detrimental  in  the  future.  Stocks  headed  by  young  fertile  queens 
having  numerous  young  bees  hatched  during  the  present  month 
invariably  winter  avell  and  come  out  strong  and  healthy  the  following 
spring. 
Removing  Surplus  Chambers. 
It  I's  useless  to  allow  the  supers  to  remain  on  the  hive  after  this 
date,  as  they  will  decrease  in  weight,  and  the  combs  will  become 
discoloured.  If  the  weather  is  cold  tt.e  bees  will  desert  the  supers. 
We  prefer  the  middle  of  a  warm  day  for  lemoving  all  surplus 
chambers,  the  bees  will  then  leave  them  readily  if  carbolic  cloths  are 
used  as  advised  in  previous  notes. 
The  surplus  chambers  should  not  be  allowed  to  remain  in  the  open 
air  expo  ed,  or  they  will  soon  be  cleared  of  their  contents  by  robber 
bees.  As  each  super  is  removed  it  should  be  carried  to  a  place  of 
safety  out  of  the  way  of  the  bees.  Those  that  have  been  worked  for 
comb  honey  should  be  examined,  and  those  not  properly  sealed  over 
separated  from  the  otheis.  They  should  then  be  uncapped  and  passed 
through  the  extractor,  and  if  placed  in  a  crate  on  the  top  of  the 
frames  for  a  hour  in  the  evening  the  bees  will  clean  them  of  honey. 
They  will  then  be  in  a  proper  condition  for  stoiing  for  use  another 
season,  flections  filled  with  fully  drawn-out  combs  which  are  clean 
and  in  good  condition  make  excellent  starters  for  bees  early  in  the 
season,  when  there  is  sometimes  a  difficulty  in  getting  them  to  start 
work  in  supers.  If  the  sections  are  packed  in  boxes  and  covered  with 
paper  so  as  to  exclude  the  dust,  and  stored  in  a  dry  place,  they  will 
not  require  any  further  attention. 
Supers  which  have  been  used  for  extracting  jmrposes,  and  are 
filled  with  full-sized  standard  frames,  should  be  examined,  and  those 
containing  drone  comb  passed  through  the  extractor,  afterwards 
placing  them  in  their  original  position  in  the  hive  at  night;  the 
bees  will  then  thoroughly  cleanse  them  of  all  adhering  honey.  They 
should  be  removed  early  the  following  morning,  when  few,  if  any, 
bees  will  be  found  on  them. — An  English  Bee-keeper. 
Carbolic  Cloth — Queenleis  Stock — Robbing. 
Would  your  bee  expert  inform  me  how  to  make  a  carbolic  cloth 
to  drive  bees  from  supers,  how  to  tell  when  a  hive  has  lost  its  queen, 
and  how  to  tell  when  robbing  is  going  on,  and  oblige  ? — Novice. 
[To  a  quart  of  warm  water  add  1  ounce  of  carbolic  acid,  mix  well 
and  shake  the  bottle  before  using,  pass  the  cloth  through  the  water, 
wring  it  out  and  use  at  once.  Unbleached  calico  is  the  best  for  the 
purpose.  The  calico  should  be  cut  slightly  larger  than  the  top  of  the 
hive,  as  it  may  then  be  used  either  for  supers  or  when  manipulating  the 
brood  chamber.  We  can  usually  tell  if  a  stock  is  queenless  by 
observing  the  bees  at  the  entrance  to  their  hive.  When  in  this  con¬ 
dition  they  are  invariably  dull  and  inactive.  The  bees,  too,  will  not 
fly  any  distance  from  the  hive  ;  neither  will  any  pollen  be  carried  in. 
Should  doubt  exist,  examine  the  combs,  and  if  neither  eggs  nor  brood 
is  found  at  this  season  there  is  every  probability  of  the  stock  being 
queenless.  The  combs  should  then  be  carefully  examined,  and  if  the 
queen  is  not  found  steps  should  at  once  be  taken  to  provide  a  young 
fertile  queen,  or  to  unite  the  bees  to  the  nearest  colony.  If  a  stock 
has  been  queenless  for  some  time,  several  queen  cells  will-have  been 
formed  but  not  finished  on  some  of  the  combs.  Robbing  takes  place 
with  more  or  less  severity  throughout  autumn  and  spring.'  One  has 
only  to  watch  a  strong  colony  during  the  middle  of  the  day  at  this 
season,  and  observe  how  rapidly  an  intruder  is  turned  out  of  the  hive 
and  rolled  off  the  floor  board.  But  no  one  can  mistake  a  bad  case  of 
robbing.  Usually  it  is  a  weak  stock  that  is  attacked.  At  first  only  a 
few  resolute  bees  may  be  observed  hovering  round  the  entrance. 
Directly  they  gain  admittance  they  are  followed  by  others,  and  in  a 
short  space  of  time  the  whole  apiary  is  in  an  uproar,  all  the  bees  being- 
anxious  to  obtain  a  share,  the  result  is  many  are  killed  in  their  struggles. 
The  stores  are  cleared  out  at  ranid  rate,  and  the  few  bees  that  remain 
will  soon  die  of  hunger  if  not  attended  to. — An  English  Bee- keeper. J 
All  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should  be  directed 
to  “The  Editor,”  12,  Mitre  Court  Chambers,  Fleet  Street, 
Iiondon,  E.C.  It  is  requi  sted  th  it  no  one  will  write  privately 
to  any  of  our  correspondents,  seeking  information  on  matters 
discussed  in  this  Journal,  as  doing  subjects  them  to  unjustifiable 
trouble  and  expense. 
Mint  and  Mushrooms  {J.H.  W.). — There  is  no  such  work  published  as 
you  appear  to  require,  nor  is  it  likely  there  will  be,  as  the  sale  for  a 
book  on  such  a  small  subject  would  probably  not  half  repay  the  cost  of 
production.  We  have  heard  that  the  gentleman  you  name  has  retired, 
but  have  no  verification.  Why  not  test  the  matter  by  writing  to  his 
last  published  address  ?  We  are  not  able  to  give  you  a  northern 
introduction  such  as  you  desire. 
Wardian  Plant  Cases  ((?.  H  ). — We  do  not  know  of  a  cheap  work  on 
Wardian  cases,  though  we  think  a  small  manual  was  published  many 
.years  ago,  and  has  probably  been  long  out  of  print.  Burbidge’s 
“  Domestic  Floriculture  ”  (Blackwood  &  Sods)  contains  a  chapter  on 
“  Gardening  in  Close  Cases,”  and  very  much  more  interesting  matter  on 
the  adornment  of  homes  with  plants  and  flowers.  It  was  published 
(at  7s.  fid.)  in  1875,  and  may  still  be  in  print. 
Mulberries  not  Turning  Black  (Thirty  Yenrs’  Subscriber). — It  is 
difficult  to  explain  why  the  majority  of  the  fruits  of  the  so-called  Black 
Mulberry  are  red  whilst  some  are  of  the  proper  colour.  It  probably 
arises  from  lack  of  heat  to  ripen  the  fruit  properly,  and  also  from  the 
excessive  crop  usually  allowed  to  remain  on  the  trees,  the  fruit  seldom 
or  never  being  thinned.  This  receives  a  measure  of  confirmation  from 
the  fact  that  the  fruit  on  trees  grown  in  orchard  houses  is  not  only  much 
larger,  but  higher  coloured  or  black  when  thoroughly  ripened,  and  of  a 
pleasantly  sweet,  yet  sub-acid  flavour.  There  is  also  a  great  diffePence 
in  variety,  as  the  trees  are  sometimes  raised  from  seed  instead  of  by 
cuttings  or  branches  of  the  trees  that  produce  the  best  coloured,  largest, 
and  highest  quality  fruit. 
Rose  Leaves  Diseased  (A.  H.,  Yorhs). — The  leaves  are  infested  with 
orange  rust  or  fungus,  the  yellow  or  orange  being  the  uredo  stage,  and 
the  dark  brown  or  black  spots  the  final  teleutospore  stage,  then 
known  as  Phragmidium  mucronatum  or  P.  subcorticium.  In  this  form 
it  is  most  disastrous  to  the  leaves,  injuring  the  tissues  seriously,  and 
causing  the  foliage  to  fall  prematurely,  thus  weakening  the  plants.  It 
may  be  prevented  spreading  by  spraying  with  sulphide  of  potassium, 
1  oz.  to  3  gallons  of  water,  delivering  the  spray  upwards  so  as  to  coat 
the  leaves  on  the  under  side,  or  dilute  Bordeaux  mixture  may  be  used. 
The  fungus  survives  the  winter  in  the  teleutospore  condition  in  the 
leaves  on  the  bushes,  or  on  the  soil,  hence  deep  digging  is  advisable  as 
a  preventive,  and  also  spraying  the  bushes  with  a  simple  solution  of 
copper  sulphate,  1  lb.  to  24  gallons  of  water,  or  1  oz.  to  gallon  of 
water. 
Will  it  Pay  to  Grow  French  Beans  after  Tomatoes .?  (Beginner). — In 
the  recently  erected  two  large  glass  houses  now  occupied  with  a  late 
crop  of  Tomatoes,  which  will  need  fire  heat  to  finish  them  off,  you  will 
hardly  succeed  with  French  Beans  until  after  the  turn  of  the  days,  and 
even  then  they  are  not  always  a  paying  crop,  though  they  sell  well 
in  the  early  spring  months.  The  French  Beaus  succeed  either  in  pots 
or  in  rows  in  the  ground  ;  but  they  require  a  night  temperature  of 
60°  to  65°  and  70°  to  75°  by  day,  with  a  rise  of  10"  to  15°  from  sun 
heat,  to  do  them  well  ;  they  cannot  have  too  much  light,  with  free 
ventilation  on  all  favourable  occasions.  The  French  Beans  will  not 
go  off  if  sown  early  in  the  year  before  the  end  of  March,  and  in  that 
case  it  is  likely  they  would  interfere  with  the  first  stock  of  Tomatoes, 
as  we  presume  you  intend  to  grow  them  after  the  French  Beans,  which 
by  that  time  should  be  well  on  the  way  in  cropping.  Besides,  it  is  not 
advisable  to  attempt  too  much,  but  rely  on  the  two  crops  of  Tomatoes. 
Well  decayed  stable  manure  is  the  best  for  French  Beans,  and  an 
excellent  forcing  variety  is  Ne  Plus  Ultra.  Considering  the  price  of 
coal  in  your  locality  we  do  not  think  they  would  pay.  In  some  cases 
Mushrooms  are  grown  successfully  in  the  houses  in  winter,  and  we 
have  found  them  pay  much  better  than  French  Beans,  the  heat  required 
being  less,  and  they  are  by  far  the  most  certain  crop. 
