252 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULIURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 11, 1884, 
say, to paint her majesty with white paint on the upper surface of the 
abdomen ? Would the bees speedily remove this ? Certainly, it would 
be a great help to bee-keepers to have a queen bearing some distinctive 
mark, seen at a glance. How, comparatively easy is it to see a black 
queen at the head of a Ligurian stock, or vice versa. 
The other sign is that to the ear placed close to the hive—“ an irregular 
and disconsolate hum is heard.” Here again would be a help if one 
could appreciate it, but I cannot. To some people, I fancy, this is an 
understood sign. One of my daughters, very unmusical, always remarked 
when helping me with my bees, that the sound of their hum was different 
when the queen was absent, and she described it as “ discontented.” She 
also thought them more spiteful when queenless. But this latter idea is a 
very variable symptom in hives ; some are so much more easily mani¬ 
pulated without retaliation than others, that it cannot much be taken 
into account. As far as my small experience goes, it rather agrees as to 
pollen-carrying with “ A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper.” As it is, I still sigh 
for some easy clue to this mystery, and suppose I shall sigh on. 
A few days since, I gave in the evening, to a hive in my dwelling 
house, a bar from which the honey had been extracted. I placed it as I 
have done before, behind a queen-excluder, and the same bees had already 
cleared some sections just commenced ; yet on the introduction of this 
bar, though nearly dusk, the bees were in a state of great excitement, 
dashing wildly about in front of the hive, as if robbing was going on, and 
the glass passage was tenanted at ten o’clock at night, although the night 
was cold. Next morning the excitement had subsided. Considering that 
for some days these bees had been emptying cells in the rear of the hive, 
why should a fresh bar have provoked such excitement 1 Is there any 
better plan of clearing out bars that you intend to stow away ? I fancy 
Mr. Abbott suggested this plan in the Bee-heeper's Journal. 
This same hive was in the early months a source of anxiety. Did 1 
just escape f ul brood with it ? I had been enlarging brood nest, when, 
alas! cold May, instead of “ charming May,” was on us. Large quantities 
of sealed brood died. Later on numbers of sealed cells had a small hole 
in the cap, then many had no attempt at sealing, but a brownish gluey-look¬ 
ing mass occupied the cell; the hive got small by degrees, and was certainly 
becoming anything hut “beautifully less.” I made up my mind to 
sacrifice combs, brood and honey. I got a fresh hive with furnished bars, 
sprayed every comb of the old hive with salicylic acid syrup, and then 
brushed them off into their new abode ; all the bees were well sprayed. 
The hive has recovered itself and is now much stronger, the queen still 
laying. There were six bars of “ combination ” size, Abbott’s, yet when 
the extracted wax was looked for, there was scarcely a couple of ounces ! 
Is this any proof of foul brood ? Did I escape the infliction ? 
Alt this happened before Mr. Cheshire’s experiments were published ; 
henceforth we may hope that foul brood will be completely under control 
without such destruction of hopes as in my case.—Y. B. A. Z. 
BEES—OBJECT LESSONS. 
I AM anxious to have a few bees, which I think will pay very well 
here, as we have a good deal of heath about, hut being quite a stranger to 
them I am at a loss to know how to begin. I have read much about bees in 
the Journal, and the different parts of hive«, but have not met with any 
one to explain them to me. There are a few persons about here who 
keep bees in the common straw hive, and know nothing of other kinds of 
hives. 
Can you tell me of anyone living within a reasonable distance from 
Sevenoaks that I could make acquaintance with, and who would explain 
things to me ? After reading what has been written in the Journal I have 
made up my mind to have the Stewaitoa hive with the Ligurian bee, 
and all I now want is someone to explain the hives to me, and show me 
their management; then with the help of the .lournal I think 1 shall be on 
a good footing.—K. C., Flaneswood, SeceiioaUs, Kent. 
[We print this letter with the object of enabling any bee-keeper in the 
district in question willing to give the lessons required, which also can be 
obtained at bee shows for 6r/. Mr. Neighbour’s address is 149, Regent 
Street, London, W.] 
Honey Fairs. —These are not quite so universal as flower shows, but 
there is no reason why they should not be quite as successful, and, 
indeed, more so, than the majority of our shows. The first annual honey 
fair of the Herefordshire Bee-keepers’ Association, which took place on 
3rd inst., proved a great success. About two tons of honey were exhibited, 
the prices ranging from Is. to Is. CrZ. a pound, and we wish it every 
future success. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Thomas _ S. Ware, Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham .—Catalogue of 
Bulbs, Dahlias, and Lilies. 
John Matthews, Weston-super-Mare.—/fh/simied Catalogue of Pottery. 
Barr & Son, 12, King Street, Covent Garden.—Descriptive Catalogue of 
Bulbs and Plants. 
Dammann & Co., Portici, Naples.— Trade Catalogue of Garden and Farm 
Seeds. 
Louis Van Houtte, Royal Nurseries, Ghent, Belgium.— Catalogue of 
Azaleas, CameJIias, and Hardwooded Plajits. 
Charles Turner, Royal Nurseries, Slough .—Catalogue of Hyacinths and 
other Bidbs. 
All coiTespondence should be directed either to “The Editor” 
or to “ The Publisher.” Letters addressed to Dr. Hogg or 
members of the staff often remain unopened unavoidably. AYe 
request that no one will write privately to any of our correspon¬ 
dents, as doing so subjects them to unjustifiable trouble and 
expense. 
Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions relat¬ 
ing to Gardening and those on Bee subjects, and should never 
send more than two or three questions at once. All articles in¬ 
tended for insertion should be written on one side of the paper 
only. We cannot reply to questions through the post, and we 
do not undertake to return rejected communications. 
The “Fruit Manual” (Bev. W. C.). —It is nine years since the last 
edition of the “ Fruit Manual ” was published, and it has long since been 
out of print. A new edition will be ready in the course of a month. 
Peas—The “Fruit Manual” [Colvile Broione). —We grew the Peas and 
consider the variety an excellent one—sturdy, productive, free from mildew, 
and the peas of excellent quality. It resembles Laxton’s Omega more closely 
than any other, and we suspect that is what it is, though we had not the 
opportunity of testing them side by side. The new edition of the “ Fruit 
Manual ” is in an advanced state, and we hope will be published next 
month. We are not able to state when the report of the Apple Congress 
will be published, but it is in course of preparation. 
Seedling Dahlia {M. C.).—The colour of the flower is very rich, hut not 
richer than many others that were exliibited at the Crystal Palace last 
week; and although the variety is worth preserving, we suspect it is of 
httle or no commercial value. 
Bitter Melons (IF. B. H.). —If the foliage of the plants remained fresh 
and green until the Melons were cut we can only attribute the bitterness of 
the fruit to a deficiency of heat, bottom heat especially, or to the variety 
being inferior. If there was red spider or other insects on the leaves, or if 
shrivelled prematurely by scorching or insufificient water at the roots, then 
only ill-flavoured or bitter fruit could be expected. No doubt the fruit was 
ripe when you cut it, perhaps over-ripe ; it ought not to have been very 
soft at the end. 
Pruning Climbing Roses (A. M. B.). —Tea, and other Roses having the 
shelter of walls, may be pruned and trained immediately after the last Rose 
of autumn is faded and gone, as you appear specially to wish this for the 
sake of neatness. We prefer to wait a little, for in a mild autumn we have 
often been rewarded for our patience with many a lovely bud and blossom 
coming after the regular autumn bloom has long been at an end. Late 
pruning in February or March is really only necessary for Roses fully ex¬ 
posed to frost and cold winds. 
Bulbs in Rose Beds {Idem). —If you require Roses for exhibition plant 
no bulbs or other flowers among them ; but if you are content with plenty 
of ordinary garden Roses, bulbs of all kinds, except Lilies, will do them no 
material harm. If, subsequently, the Roses, by weakly growth and sickly 
foliage, show poverty of soil, take up the bulbs, give a liberal dressing of 
farmyard manure, work it well into the soil, and at once replant the bulbs. 
Crimson Campanula {Amateur). —We have never heard of nor have we 
seen any Alpine Campanula which by any stretch of imagination has any¬ 
thing approaching crimson flowers, and we have also good reasons for 
believing that its origin is due to the “ work of fiction” to which you allude, 
since the authors of such works invariably have a very extensive and 
inventive imagination, the one in the present instance certainly being 
troubled with colour-blindness. There are rose-coloured forms of Campanula 
Medium, which are the Canterbury Bells, both single and double. These are 
hardy biennials. Besides these we only call to mind one other species, and 
that a hardy annual, which has reddish purple flowers. Perhaps this is 
Campanula attica, a recent introduction, and a miniature of Venus’ Looking- 
glass, though not allied to that plant. 
German Moss Litter {B. F.). —Taken bulk for bulk as it comes from the 
stable it is of greater value than straw litter ; the manner in which it is com¬ 
pressed into bales for packing closely shows this. Saturated with urine, and 
mixed with horse droppings, it is a powerful manure ready for immediate 
use when taken from the stable, and should be applied to the land at once. 
To throw it into a heap induces heating, during which ammoniacal gas is 
generated. Much of it escapes from the heap, and so the very essence of its 
fertility is lost, and when it cannot be used immediately it may be advan¬ 
tageously mixed with straw litter ; or if put in a heap unmixed it should be 
covered with 3 or 4 inches of soil or wood ashes, to absorb and retain the 
rich gases which would otherwise be lost. It has been proved admirably 
adapted for the growth of Mushrooms, and we have seen very productive 
beds made with this material. 
Tuberous Begonias {Irish Subscriber). —The seed to which you refer as 
having sown should have germinated before now; but it requires very 
great care in watering to germinate at all. Young seedlings appearing 
now would need a stove to keep them growing, as there is not time for them 
to form tubers for resting through the winter. The plants require re-pot- 
ting as soon as the pots in which they are established are fairly filled with 
roots, as if they get too much root-bound before being shifted they seldom 
grow freely. A mixture of loam and peat, with sand, in their early stages 
