August  23,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
187 
Lote  Houses, — The  Grapes  will  row  be  nearing  the  colouring  stage, 
and  should  be  given  every  encouragement.  Afford  full  supplies  of 
water  throngh.  a  good  suiface  mulching,  sweetened  horse  droppings 
or  stable  litter  freed  from  the  straw  and  thrown  in  a  heap,  and  when 
hot  turned  inside  to  outside,  answering  well  when  not  more  than 
1  to  2  inches  thick.  All  late  Grapes  fequire  time,  some  more  than 
others,  but  all  ought  now  to  be  colouring,  or  close  on,  while  no  harm 
will  come  to  those  advanced  therein  as  regards  keeping  afterwards. 
In  order  to  effect  perfection  of  berry  in  size  and  finish  a  fair  amount 
of  air  tnoisture  with  a  circulation  of  air  constantly  is  imperative, 
diminishing  the  air  moisture  as  the  Grapes  advance  in  colouring. 
1 
HE  BEE-KEEPER. 
■  I  • '  - 1  ■ 
.  i  ■  I  .  I .  t . I  .  T  ■  I  ■  L  ■  I  ■  I  - 1  ■  I  .  ri 
Drones  Still  in  Hives. 
Owing  to  the  dull  sunless  weather  which  prevailed  during  the 
early  days  of  this  month,  drones  were  killed  earlier  than  usual.  It  is 
quite  a  ccmmon  thing  to  see  the  drone  brood  turned  out  of  the  hive 
early  in  the  season  when  stores  are  short  and  bad  w’eather  sets  in. 
Directly,  however,  the  surroundings  are  more  favourable  eggs  are  agair: 
laid  in  the  drone  cells,  and  in  due  course  are  hatched.  The.-e  are 
allowed  to  remain  in  the  hive  until  they  are  no  longer  required,  when 
they  are  at  once  turntd  out  by  the  workers.  There  is  one  interesting 
fact  in  connection  with  this  subject  which  bee-keepers  will  do  well  to 
observe.  Although  a  colony  of  bees  is  well  supplied  with  stores,  if 
it.  is.  headed  by  an  active  fertile  queen,  the  drones  will  he  killed  off 
within  a  few  days  of  those  not  so  favourably  situated  in  a  weak  stock. 
But  should  the  stock  be  queenless  and  short  of  stores  the  drones  are 
allowed  to  remain  in  the  hive  and  are  not  destroyed. 
Drones  in  the  hivt  s  after  this  date  should  be  viewed  with  suspicion, 
as  it  is  invariably  a  sure  sign  of  queenlessness,  or  that  the  qu(en  is 
old  and  decrepit.  In  either  case  they  should  receive  attention.  If  on 
examination  a  queen  is  found  w'ith  ragged  wings,  and  only  a  few  eggs 
are  laid  in  various  parts  of  the  comb,  dotted  about  and  not  all  in  a  mass, 
the  queen  should  be  removed,  and  her  place  taken  by  a  young  fertile 
queen  raised  during  the  present  season.  If  this  is  done,  and  the  smck 
is  fed  with  syrup,  the  drones  will  be  turned  out  of  the  hive  within 
twenty-four  hours. 
Surplus  Queens. 
In  the  majority  of  apiaries  where  several  stocks  of  hees  are  kept 
there  will  at  this  season  be  several  surplus  queens  on  hand.  We 
would  again  ref  eat  the  advice  that  young  queens  are  as  a  rule  the 
best.  Although  a  queen  has  been  prolific,  and  done  well  during  the 
past  season,  she  may  be  quite  the  reverse  next  year.  In  our  own 
apiary  we  have  two  stocks  which  were  re-queened  last  year.  They 
wintered  well,  and  w'ere  treated  in  exactly  the  same  manner  as  other 
queens  reared  at  the  same  time  and  under  the  same  conditions.  They 
have,  however,  not  half  the  number  of  bees  in  their  hive  as  other 
stocks  have.  It  is  difficult  to  account  for  this.  But  all  bee-keepers 
have  the  same  experience,  as  under  the  best  management  some  colonies 
will  always  go  ahead  of  the  others. 
As  stated  in  previous  notes,  we  always  endeavr  ur  to  raise  young 
queens  from  one  of  our  best  stocks.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  the 
activity  of  the  bees  after  a  queen  has  b  en  given  to  them,  after  being 
without  one  for  several  weeks.  Instead  ot  remaining  on  the  floor 
board,  dull  and  listless,  they  a‘  once  become  active,  and  may  be 
observed  carrying  in  pollen  the  lolh  wing  day.  If  a  stock  has  become 
weak  through  being  queenless,  it  will  be  an  advantage  to  strengthen 
it  by  introducing  some  driven  bers,  or  by  uniting  two  w<  ak  colonies. 
In  the  former  case  it  will  be  an  advantage  to  brush  the  bees  off  the 
combs  on  to  the  floor  board  and  sprinkle  them  with  flour.  The  driven 
bees  should  be  treated  in  the  same  manner  ;  they  will  then  unite 
without  the  loss  of  a  bee. — An  English  Bee-keeper. 
Trade  Catalogues  Received. 
Cooper,  Taber,  &  Co.,  Ltd.,  Southwark  Street,  S.E. —  Wholesale  Bulb 
Catalogue. 
J.  Craven  &  Co.,  Manners  Street,  Wellington,  New  Zealand. — Seeds. 
Dobbie  &  Co.,  Rothesay. — Bulbs. 
Dobie  &  Mason,  Oak  Street,  Manchester. — Bulbs. 
W.  Fell  &  Co.,  Hexham. — Forest  Trees. 
Hogg  &  Robinson,  Dublin. — Holland  in  Ireland — Bulbs. 
Little  &  Ballantyne,  Carlisle. — Bulbs. 
W.  Paul  &  Son,  Waltham  Cross. — Bulbs  and  Winter  Flowers. 
J.  R.  Pearson  &  Sons,  Lowdham,  Notts. — Bulbs. 
Sutton  &  Sons,  Reading  — Bulbs. 
J.  Veitch  &  Sons,  Ltd  ,  Chelsea. — Bulbs. 
All  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should  be  directed 
to  “  The  Editor,”  12,  nxitre  court  Chambers,  Fleet  Street^. 
Iiondon,  E.C.  It  is  reqtusted  th^t  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. 
Preserving  French  Beans  and  Scarlet  Runners  {Ignoramus). — The 
beans  or  pods  should  be  gathered  when  of  useable  size,  and  when  dry, 
placing  in  an  earthenware  jar,  first  placing  in  a  layer  of  salt,  then  a 
layer  of  pods,  and  so  on  until  the  jar  is  filled,  enough  salt  being  used 
on  each  layer  to  cover  the  beans,  finally  placing  on  the  lid.  The  beans 
should  be  washed  in  water  before  cooking,  so  as  to  remove  some  of  the 
salt.  This  is  a  plan  we  have  seen  practised  successfully,  but  there  may  be 
other  methods  respecting  which  we  should  be  obliged  for  information. 
Haemanthus  (.7.  C.  S.). — The  species  of  this  genus  are  very 
interesting  and  beautiful  bulbous  plants.  Scape,  involucre,  umbels,  and . 
stamens  all  add  their  quota  to  the  interest  and  beauty  of  these  curious 
flowers,  which  in  some  of  the  species  are  gathered  together  into  closely 
compact  umbels,  and  present  in  the  mass  a  sort  of  filamentous  appear¬ 
ance.  One  of  the  most  commonly  grown  is  H.  sanguineus,  flowers 
scarlet  on  dense  heads.  The  flowers  appear  before  the  new  growth, 
and  it  is  important  that  after  flowering  the  plant  have  a  period  of 
growth,  to  he  followed  by  one  of  rest.  The  Haomanthus  belong  to  the 
natural  order  Amaryllidem,  but  are  very  different  from  Amaryllis. 
Anthurium  Scherzerianum  (  C.  C.).  —  The  sport  forwarded  is 
uncommon,  but  not  unique,  similar  ones  having  been  recorded  at  rare 
intervals.  The  same  thing  occurs  occasionally  in  several  other  Arads, 
and  has  often  been  noted  in  Ricbardia  africana.  When  additional 
spathes  are  produced  they  usually  resemble  the  ordinary  spathes,  rarely, 
as  in  the  present  case,  taking  the  form  of  a  leaf.  In  Masters*' 
“  Vegetable  Teratology,”  page  357,  reference  is  made  to  increased 
number  of  stipules,  spathes,  &c.,  among  other  examples  A.  Scher¬ 
zerianum  being  cited  as  occasionally  producing  leaf-like  spathes,  in 
addition  to  the  true  ones.  The  production  of  additional  spathes  appears 
to  be  pure  chance,  the  same  thing  rarely,  if  ever,  occurring  annually  on 
the  same  plant. 
Maggots  in  Celery  Leaves  {M.  E.  R.). — The  leaves  are  destroyed  by 
a  leaf-mining  maggot,  hatching  from  eggs  that  are  deposited  by  a  small 
fly  known  as  the  Celery  fly.  These  leaf-mining  insects  are  very 
destructive.  We  have  seen  them  destroyed  by  a  mixture  of  softsoap 
and  petroleum  prepared  as  follows  ;  —  Take  2  ozs.  of  softsoap  and 
half  ounce  of  washing  soda,  put  these  into  a  2-gallon  stone  bottle,  and 
pour  upon  them  1  gallon  of  boiling  rain  or  soft  water;  stir  till  the  whole- 
is  thoroughly  mixed,  then  add  4  ozs.  of  petroleum,  stir  and  shake 
again,  then  stir  up  the  bottle  with  another  gallon  of  boiling  rain  water. 
When  cool  strain  through  muslin  or  other  suitable  material,  and  apply 
with  a  syringe  or  spray  distributor  in  the  evening,  not  in  the  morning, 
as  if  the  sun  shines  on  the  plants  before  they  are  dry  they  may  be 
injured. 
Ice  Plant  Culture  (J.  P.  C  ). — Ice  Plants  may  readily  be  raised 
from  seeds,  which  should  be  sown  early  in  April  in  rich  light  soil,  barely 
covering  the  seeds  with  fine  soil,  then  water  gently,  and  place  the  pots- 
near  the  glass  in  a  house  or  frame  in  a  temperature  of  60“  to  75°.  The 
soil  must  not  be  kept  more  than  moist,  and  air  must  be  freely  admitted, 
otherwise  the  plants  will  damp  off.  Pot  them  singly  in  3-inch  pots 
when  they  can  be  handled,  place  them  in  a  gentle  hotbed,  be  careful, 
not  to  overwater,  and  shade  them  from  bright  sun  for  a  few  days  until 
they  are  again  established,  then  admit  air  freely,  and  water  only  to  keep 
the  plants  from  flagging.  Harden  well,  and  plant  out  early  in  June  in 
rich  light  soil,  in  an  open  warm  situation,  watering  at  planting.  Any 
light  loamy  soil,  with  a  free  admixture  of  leaf  soil  or  well-decayed’ 
manure,  will  grow  them  well. 
Increasing  Lilium  candidum  (Awiatewr). —  To  increase  the  stock  of 
these  in  pots  lift  bulbs  from  the  open  borders  directly  they  have 
flowered.  Good  sized  bulbs  may  be  potted  singly  in  6  and  7-inoh  pots, 
or  four  may  be  placed  into  10-inch  pots.  Give  liberal  drainage,  and 
employ  a  compost  of  good  fibrous  loam  three  parts,  one  part  of  leaf 
mould,  one-seventh  of  decayed  manure,  and  a  liberal  quantity  of  coarse 
sand.  The  old  flower  stems  may  be  cut  off  close  to  the  top  of  the 
bulbs.  Pi  ess  the  soil  moderately  firm  into  the  pots,  and  cover  the 
bulbs  with  1  inch  of  soil.  They  will  do  outside,  but  start  better  if 
they  can  be  placed  in  cold  frames,  so  that  they  may  be  protected  from 
heavy  rains  until  they  commence  rooting  and  growing  again,  which 
will  be  in  a  very  short  time.  When  this  takes  place  they  will  be  as 
well  outside  as  in  frames,  only  be  careful  to  house  them  before  the 
approach  of  frost.  Considerable  injury  is  done  to  this  Lily  if  the- 
buibs  are  kept  out  of  the  soil  for  any  length  of  time,  as  it  is  naturals 
for  it  to  commence  growth  at  once  after  flowering. 
