June  16,  1904. 
JOURNAL  CF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
525 
destroyed  by  dustings  of  tobacco  powder  or  syringing  with 
tobacco  water.  Afterwards  cleanse  with  clear  water.  During 
dry,  hot  weather  the  swelling  and  developing  of  the  buds  will  be 
greatly  accelerated  by  copiously  watering,  and  the  soil  between 
the  plants,  if  trodden  down  hard,  should  be  loosened.  Finer 
blooms  may  be  had  by  thinning  the  buds,  leaving  three  buds  as 
a  rule  on  a  stem,  weakly  plants  only  having  one.  There  is  a 
tendency  among  Carnation  btids  to  burst  sideways  or  irregularly. 
An  indiarubber  ring  placed  round  them  as  they  begin  to  swell 
will  prevent  this. 
HOLLYHOCKS  AND  DAHLIAS.— The  rapid  growth  of  the 
stems-  of  these  makes  it  imperative  that  supports  be  given  them 
without  delay.  The  opportunity  should  be  taken  to  thin  out 
the  growths  of  Dahlias,  several  strong  stems  being  better  than 
a  mass  of  weakly  growths. 
DIVIDING  POLYANTHUSES  AND  PRIMROSES.— The 
dividing  up  and  replanting  of  these  is  best  effected  early,  so  that 
they  may  have  a  good  chance  of  forming  strong  plants  by 
autumn.  Each  crown  will  inake  a  plant,  hence  if  necessary 
divide  to  that  extent.  Remove  coarse  leaves  and  those  yel¬ 
lowing,  and  cut  back  the  roots  freely.  Prepare  a  piece  of  ground 
by  digging  deeply,  incorporating  some  decayed  manure.  Form 
a  trench  about  Gin  deep,  and  place  the  divisions  Gin  apart  along 
it,  spreading  out  the  roots  evenly.  Cover  with  soil,  make 
firm,  and  water,  finishing  off  with  dry  soil.  This  will  serve 
to  prevent  evaporation,  and  quickly  establish  them. 
HERBACEOUS  BORDERS. — Almost  constant  attention  is 
required  now  by  the  plants.  Species  going  out  of  flower  should 
have  the  withered  blooms  and  stems  removed,  also  any  yellow 
leaves.  Tall  growing  species  are  safest  from  injury  if  neatly 
staked,  not,  however,  crowding  the  growths  together.  Rain 
causes  them  to  be  very  heavy,  and  the  wind  then  playing  upon 
them  snaps  many  valuable  shoots  off  at  the  base.  Those 
requiring  attention  at  once  are  Phloxes,  Pentstemons,  Cam¬ 
panulas,  Aquilegias,  Delphiniums.  Hoe  over  the  ground  to 
destroy  seedling  weeds.  Weeds  of  larger  growth  should  be 
forked  up,  and  collected  for  disposal  on  the  rubbish  heap. 
SWEET  PEAS. — The  earliest  rows  will  shortly  be  in  flower, 
and  ought  to  receive  a  liberal  mulching  of  manure  on  each  side 
the  rows.  Assist  and  strengthen  the  growth  of  successional  rows 
by  due  applications  of  water  and  liquid  manure,  though  the 
latter  is,  as  a  rule,  best  applied  when  flowering  commences.  The 
latter  rows  or  clumps  must  have  the  sticks  fixed  to  them  in 
time  before  the  growths  snread  about.  In  order  to  prolong  the 
flowering  season,  the  seed  jDods  should  be  ])icked  off  regularly 
and  cleanly  as  soon  as  the  flowers  are  over. — E.  D.  S.,  Gravesend. 
- - 
Entomological  Notes. 
Daddy-long’-leg’s. 
One  of  the  commonest  summer  insects  is  the  Crane  fly 
(Tipula  oleracea),  which  is  known  to  practically  everybody.  The 
grubs  or  larvte,  however,  are  not  so  frequently  seen,  and  there- 
Daddy long'legs-  o:-  Crane  fly. 
fore  are  not  so  well  known.  They  do  enormous  damage  to  the 
roots  of  grasses  in  permanent  pastures,  and  they  also  attack 
young  Lettuces,  Beans.  Potatoes,  and  the  Cabbage  family,  con¬ 
sequently  the  insects  should  be  destroyed  to  prevent  the  laying 
of  eggs.  Trapping  by  means  of  sliced  Carrots,  Potatoes,  or 
Parsnip  is  recommended  for  gardens,  and  heavy  rolling  for 
pastures.  A  weak  solution  of  gas  liquor,  with  lime  added,  is  said 
to  be  a  remedy,  applied  through  a  watering  pot. 
Subjug-ating’  and  Manipulating  Bees. 
This  is  a  branch  of  apiculture  which  opens  up  a  very  wide 
field  of  interesting  and  profitable  enquiry,  but  owing  to  bees 
and  bee-keeping  having  been  mixed  up  with  super-naturalism  a 
state  of  clearness  respecting  the  handling  of  these  wonderful 
insects  has  not  in  many  cases  yet  been  arrived  at.  There  is 
scarcely  an  apiarist  who  has  not  met  with  some  of  his  earliest 
disiliusionments  when  handling  and  conti’olling  his  fir.st  colony, 
and  in  view  of  the  fact  that  at  one  period  of  the  year  the  whole 
of  the  population  of  a  hive  is  renewed  in  six  weeks,  the  time¬ 
worn  theory  that  the  bees  get  accustomed  to  their  master  .stands 
out  therefore  as  a  startling  fallacy.  Close  observers  of  the 
habits  of  insects  must  have  noticed  that  most  hymenoptera 
(membranous  winged)  have  a  great  dislike,  if  not  a  positive 
fear,  of  any  kind  of  pungent  smoke. 
The  Rev.  L.  L.  Langstroth,  the  father  of  modern  bee-keep¬ 
ing,  however,  was  the  first  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  bees 
were  afraid  of  smoke,  and  to  put  it  to  practical  use.  One  of  his 
a>ioms,  which  ought  to  be  as  familiar  to  the  apiarist  as  the 
letters  of  the  alphabet,  is  as  follows: — “Bees  when  frightened 
by  smoke  or  by  drumming  on  their  hives  fill  themselves  with 
honey,  and  lose  all  disposition  to  sting  unless  they  are  hurt.”  It 
is  manifest,  therefore,  from  this  that  it  is  only  necessary  to  take 
proper  measures  to  subdue  them,  and  they  may  be  rendered 
almost  harmless.  To  attain  this  object  a  variety  of  methods 
have  been  tried  wbich  have  been  more  or  less  successful.  The 
excessive  use  of  smoke,  however,  must  be  guarded  against,  as 
when  administered  beyond  a  certain  point,  instead  of  subduing  it 
irritates  the  bees  and  aorgravates  them. 
The  tendency  of  amateurs  is  to  use  the  smoker  with  un¬ 
necessary  frequency  ;  and  while  on  this  point  it  is  also  worthy  of 
mention  that  in  dealing  with  swarms,  smoke  is  not  essential, 
except  as  a  means  of  hastening  their  movements  when  hiving 
rapidly.  All  that  is  needed  is  to  avoid  crushing  any,  and  care- 
fulne.ss  in  handling.  A  sprinkling  of  water  will  make  them 
cluster  more  compactly,  and  will  facilitate  the  operation  of 
shaking  them  out  upon  the  floorboard  of  the  hive.  The  reason 
of  their  disinclination  to  sting  is  that  they  are  filled  with 
.sweets,  are  excited,  and  homeless.  This  combination  makes 
them  good  tempered,  and  almost  listless,  and  while  in  this  con¬ 
dition  there  is  consequentiy  little  or  no  difficulty  in  manipu¬ 
lating  them  in  any  way.  As  timidity  may  foster  a  feeling  of 
insecurity,  before  commencing  operations  the  apiarist  should 
protect  liis  face  by  a  veil,  hemmed  to  fit  the  hat  tightly  at  the 
top,  and  to  tuck  underneath  the  coat  collar  at  the  bottom. 
Black  net  is  preferable  for  this  purpose,  as  white  is  an  obstruc¬ 
tion  of  the  vision.  Gloves  will  be  found  a  hindrance,  especially 
in  delicate  operations,  but  if  desired,  kid  are  better  than  india- 
rubber,  the  sting  seldom  penetrating  to  roe  angers.  A  caution 
is  necessary  with  respect  to  woollen  articles  for  the  protection 
of  the  hands.  Bees  will  apparently,  without  the  slightest  pro¬ 
vocation,  attack  hands  encased  in  woollen  gloves,  and  as  they 
are  always  a  cause  of  irritation  they  should  be  eschewed.  As 
an  intimidator,  carbolised  cloth  or  smoke  is  used  by  the  most 
prominent  and  successful  apiarists. 
One  of  the  best  patterns  of  a  smoker  is  that  known  as  the 
“  Bingham,”  which,  if  properly  charged  with  a  roll  of  corduroy, 
rags,  or  brown  paper  (the  latter  well  crumpled  to  allow  a  free 
passage  of  air),  will,  if  kept  nozzle  upwards,  keep  alight  until 
all  the  fuel  is  consumed.  If  placed  flat  it  will  go  out.  Some 
kinds  of  smokers  do  not  burn  as  freely  as  desired,  but  go  out 
unle.ss  they  are  used  at  short  intervals.  When  this  is  the  ca.se 
it  will  be  found  to  burn  better  if  the  rag  or  paper  before  use  is 
dipped  in  a  solution  of  4oz  of  saltpetre  to  1  quart  of  water. 
Immediately  the  fuel  is  dry  it  is  ready  for  use. 
(To  be  continued.) 
Swapfning-  v.  Swarm  Ppevention. 
It  is  a  Avell  known  fact  amongst  apiarists  that  indi.scriminate 
swarming  is  detrimental  Avhen  a  heavy  crop  of  honey  is  desired. 
It  is,  however,  argued,  that  if  a  young,  fertile  queen  is  given  to 
the  old  and  queenless  colony,  .so  that  the  work  of  ovipositing  is 
not  hindered,  and  brood  production  continues,  there  will  be  two 
strong  colonies  instead  of  one  for  a  late  honey  flow  when  it 
commences,  wdiich  wull  gather  double  the  harvest.  Ihis  is 
admittedly  very  plausible,  but  the  arguments  for  and  against 
swarming  might  be  greatly  amplified,  and  if  the  production  <)f 
honey  is  the  sole  object,  and  the  bee-keeper  has  not  too  much 
time'  to  attend  to  .swarms,  it  is  certainly  very  much  better  to 
prevent  the  bees  coming  off  by  controlling  the  swarming  impulse. 
Should,  however,  a  colony  become  unusually  powerful  very 
early  in  the  year,  when  there  is  little  or  no  prospect  of  a  honey 
flow'^for  a  month  or  more,  as  will  sometimes  occur,  the  chances 
are,  that  if,  instead  of  waiting  for  natural  swarming  to  take 
