Sep. 2, 1920.] Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. 673 



source of infection to adjacent trees. When trees are removed they should 

 be burnt on the spot, the soil then turned over and a generous dressing of 

 quicklime provided. The area should be allowed to remain unplanted to 

 fruit trees for a consideraVjle time (several years if possible), and in 

 the meantime the soil should be repeatedly tuined over to the action of 

 the sun. 



Where trees are slightly attacked, the lower branches should be removed 

 to allow sunlight to reach the butt of the tree. This specially applie« to 

 citrus trees, as shade and moisture favour the growth of the fungus. Some 

 growers use a mulch of . grass or other material under the trees ; this 

 should be kept at least a foot away from the butt. Lack of drainage favours 

 the disease, and where it is defective it should be remedied. 



There is evidence that the fungus in some cases works slowly ; so that if 

 diseased parts are removed and the tree is kept healthy and vigorous, and is 

 subjected to good cultivation and manuring, it may last for a long time. 

 There is also evidence that the fungus makes rapid progress in wet seasons. 

 This is not so evident in the appearance of the tree as one would expect, but 

 it becomes so if the wet years are followed by drought, when the foliage 

 rapidly becomes yellow and the tree collapses and dies, often just about the 

 time the fruit is ready to pick. Several specifics have been tried out by the 

 Department of Agriculture for the control of this pest, but none of those 

 used has given much promise of success up to the time of writing. 



To Rebuild an Apiary depleted by Drought. 



The manner in which a queen bee carries on egg-laying is partly governed 

 by outside conditions, including the supply of honey and pollen that is 

 available for collection by the bees. In the absence of stimulating conditions 

 the queen bee will often cease laying, or perhaps very little brood will be 

 observed. During a dearth of honey in the fields it is a good plan in season 

 to give a little stimulating food daily to maintain progress. The food is 

 given inside the hive by removing the cover and placing a quilt with a hole 

 in the centre ovei- the frames ; an empty super is then j)ut on, and the feed 

 (which should consist of sugar and warm water in equal quantities by volume, 

 stirred until the sugar is dissolved) poured into a container which should be 

 accessible to the bees in the empty super. Honey thinned down with water 

 would do for feeding, providing the honey is from a source where it is known 

 there is no disease. Where the number of colonies in an apiary has been 

 depleted by a scarcity of feed, as perhaps happened in a good many places 

 ' last season, the apiary can be built up again by purchasing a number of 

 untested queens from a queen-raising apiary about the time when the 

 remaining colony or colonies again become pof)ulous in the late spring. 

 Nuclei can then be formed for increase, the number of nuclei formed from 

 each hive depending upon the strength to which the parent colony has built 

 up. — VV. A. GooDACKE, Senior Apiary Inspector. 



