78 



JOURNAX, OF HORTICtJLTURE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEE. 



[ Juir 28, 1863. 



Ducks (Any other variety).— First, T. H. D. Bajley. Second, J. R. 

 Jeftsop, Beverley Koad, Hull. 



SWEEPSTAKK.S. 



Game Cock.— Firet, G. Clements, BiruiiDt-ham. Second, J. B. Chune, 

 Coiilbrookdule. 



Came Bantam Cock.— Prize, T. U. D. Bajlcy, ItkwcU House, near 

 Eiggleswade. 



PiGioNS.— Poii^rs (Anv Age or Colour),— Firrt, H. Yiirdley, Birming- 

 ham. Second, F. Else, Baji.»«ter, London. Conimendeo. K. M, Pierce, 

 the Castle, Taunton. tVii / le;.'..— First ;iiid Second, H. Yardley. Almond 

 riimtilers.— Hlfl, F. El.se. Second, T. U. Walker, Holyake, Clle^hlro. 

 Mottled or other Tumblers.— Vnt,e, H. Vardlc;. balds or Bcurds.— 

 Prize, J. W. Edge. Oicls (Silver or blue).— Prize, M. E. JobbliiiK, Bairas 

 Bridge, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Owls (Any other Colour).— Prize, F. K. 

 Else. £or*s (Any Colour).— First, F. G. Stevens, AxminBler, Devmuhire. 

 Second, T. D. Walker, Holyake, Cheshire. Fanttuls (White).— Prize, H. 

 Tardley. Fantiiils (Any other Colour).- Prize, J. W. Edge. JVi/iis (Ai.y 

 Colour).— First, F. Else. Second, J. W. Edge. rri/myif<cis.— Prize, II. 

 Yardley. riirt/Vs.— First, F. G. Stevens. Second, H. Yarilley. Jaeobma. 

 — First, H. Yardley. Second, J. W. Edge. A'u/i(s.— First, E. Pigeon, 

 Lympstone, near Exeter. Second, F. G. Stevens. jdn/iccr^A-.— Prize, U. 

 Y'ardley. For any New or Dcserxlny Variety.— }^TV6H, H. Yardley. 



Messrs. Hewitt and Baily were the Judges. 



BEE-ZEEPI^^G IN DEVON.— K^o. XIX. 



FOUL BKOOD. 



After racking my brain to the uttermost to divine the 

 cause of the unsatisfactory stiite of my apiary, as described 

 in my last communication, and taxing my ingenuity in vain 

 to discover a remedy, it at length oocuiTed to me that all 

 this mischief might possibly arise from that fata! scourge of 

 continental and American apiaries denominated " foul 

 brood." On refeiTing to bee-books in which this disease is 

 mentioned, I became comTiiced that my conjecttu-e was 

 correct, and that I had a no less formidable enemy to contend 

 with. This, then, accounted for all my diifictilties ; and as a 

 disease when known is said to be half cured, I was at any 

 rate relieved from imcertitinty, and had the knowledge and 

 experience of others to guide me to a remedy. It may 

 probably appear to many not a little singular that this ex- 

 planation did not occm- to me before, and on looking back it 

 does seem rather surprising that I should not have made 

 the discovery earlier. But it must be borne in mind that I 

 had never before to my knowledge met with a case in any 

 respect similar, and that although I had perused both 

 German and American descriptions of the malady, they had 

 appeared to me to relate to a state of things wliich was un- 

 known in this countiy, and had almost entirely faded from 

 my recollection, as refeiTing to matters with which I was 

 never likely to have any concern. 



There could, however, be no doubt as to the actual fact. 

 My colonies without a single exception were the victims 

 of this fatal pestilence, and all must speedily perish unless 

 prompt and efficacious remedies were resorted to. 



After reading all I could meet with on the subject, in 

 German, American, and English bee-books (for I discovered 

 that the disease was mentioned by Dr. Bevan and other 

 English authors, although under difl'erent names), I at 

 length began to comprehend the matter, and understood 

 also at the same time by what means all my stocks had 

 become inocidated by the fatal virus. Knowing how great 

 an assistance it is to bees to be fm'nished with combs, I have 

 long been in the habit of purchasing in my own neigli- 

 botrrhood, and through ftiends in various localities at a 

 distance, empty combs from swai'ms that had perished of 

 starvation ; and from the experience which I have recently 

 bought at so great a cost, I now know that some of these 

 had belonged to bees which had retdly died from foul brood, 

 and by using these combs in various hives I had spread the 

 infection throughout my apiai-y. 



Having, therefore, identified the disease, and traced it to 

 its source, the next step was to apply a remedy ; and here, 

 for the better understanding of my after-proceedings, I may 

 state that all authorities agree in stating that this malady 

 does not in the least affect adult bees, but is confined to the 

 brood. The hive in which a diseased colony has been domi- 

 ciled, as also their combs and the honey they contain, are, 

 however, cap.able of inoculating a healthy stock, and for this 

 reason bees irom other colonies robbing a foul-breeding one 

 may convey the infection to their own hives. On this 

 account all my operations were conducted towards evening, 

 when, contrary to the usual practice of the criminal popu- 



la.tion of mankind, the marauding spiiit among bees ie by 

 no means so active as dming the forenoon, and in the full 

 glare of a midday sun. 



My first experiment was with a couple of pure Italian 

 stocks which I had contrived to keej) tolerably strong ; and 

 which I therefore deemed equal to furnishing each a moderate 

 artificial swarm, whilst leaving sufficient bees in the parent 

 stock to hatch-ottt what healthy brood might remain, and 

 possibly also to raise queens therefrom. Providing, therefore, 

 a clean hive fiu-nished with what, at the time, I considered 

 to be piu'e comb, I first ensconsed the queen therein (having 

 temporaiily confined her in a small cage to prevent her 

 being lost diu-ing the confusion), and taking out the combs 

 one by one, brushed every bee from them into the new 

 domicile. AU this was done as expeditiously as possible in 

 order to give the bees little time for fiUiiig themselves with 

 polluted honey from theii- old hive, and in a few minutes they 

 found themselves with their queen in a strange habitation 

 removed to another part of the garden, whilst the deserted 

 hive occupied its old position. There it received such bees as 

 were absent during the operation, as well as a constant 

 accession of numbers diuing the next few days from bees 

 returning to the old spot, and the hatching-out of such 

 young ones as had escaped the fatal infection ; but although 

 many royal cells were formed it failed to raise a queen. The 

 result was also a failure in the case of the swarm in which 

 the disease reappeared as soon as the brood was sufficiently 

 advanced to admit of its development, and which, therefore, 

 necessitated the repetition of the operation in the difierent 

 and, I believe, more effectual form which will be hereafter 

 described. This unfortunate result may, I think, be at- 

 tributed to infection lurking in some of the combs with 

 which the swarm was furnished, and which I fancy must 

 have been at some time during this summer in one of my 

 diseased hives, although I was not cognisant of the fact at 

 the time I used them. 



My proceedings with the second colony were also precisely 

 similai' to the foregoing ; but, unlike the first, appear- thus 

 far to have been completelj' successful in conquering the 

 malady, of which no farther symptoms have manifested 

 themselves, but in tliis case, also, the bees remaining in the 

 old hive failed to raise a queen. 



The next move was of a somewhat difierent chai-acter, 

 and involved a tiip of a few miles into the country, which I 

 made in the beginning of this month iJuly), and there I 

 purchased a couple of swarms — a first and second — both 

 good of their kind, one hive being filled with comb tolerably 

 heavy and very populous, whilst the other was two-thirds 

 fuU and contained a good number of bees. The latter I tied 

 up in a cloth and brought home at once ; but, to my great 

 mortification, nearly all the combs fell dming the joui-ney, 

 and many were so damaged as to be xiseless. The remaining 

 combs and bees were transferred to a clean box and supplied 

 with empty combs. Unfortunately, like those before men- 

 tioned, they cotild not have been pirre, for the disease sub- 

 sequently showed itself in two combs ; but these having been 

 at once removed it has not again appeared, and the stock 

 :now seems perfectly healthy. I may add that since its 

 sojourn in my apiai-j- its black queen has been deposed, and 

 has made an involuntary migration to St. Austell, in the 

 neighboming county of Cornwall, where I shall be vei-y glad 

 to hear of her weU-doing, and that a very beautiful yellow 

 queen from one of my own hives reigns in her stead. 



Two days afterwards I took a second excm'sion, bargained 

 for another prime swaim, and ckove the one I th-st purchased 

 into a box fm-nished with empty comb. Placing them in 

 then- accustomed position, and leaving them to make the 

 best of their poverty-stricken condition, I brought home 

 theii- original well-furnished habitation, and having con- 

 signed it to a warm corner in the kitchen during the night, 

 proceeded the next morning to cut out evei-y comb and fit 

 and fix them into frames. This done, one filled -with brood 

 was applied to the assistance of one of the artificial swarms 

 whose fonnation I have above described, whilst the others 

 were placed in a clean hive, into which was rapidly swept 

 the poptilation of a Liguiian stock whose infected combs 

 were drained of honey and consigned at once to the melting- 

 pot. 



The next day I repeated this proceeding with the other 

 prime swarm, installing the bees in a box fiu-nished only with 



