106 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 31,13f5. 
APIARIAN NOTES. 
FOUL BROOD. 
“ Will you kindly inform me through the medium of the 
Journal if the bees (a sample of whose comb is sent by this post), 
died from the dreaded disease foul brood ? Three expensive 
frame hives stocked with bees were purchased last spring. All 
have died in the same manner. I should be glad of definite 
information.” 
The comb sent is very badly affected with foul brood. Steps 
should at once be taken to eradicate this pest, as this disease is 
often propagated from one colony to another by robber bees 
entering affected hives and carrying off foul brood honey. No 
half measures will be of any permanent use. All combs and frames 
should be burnt, also the quilt, coverings, and any debris there 
may be about the hives. This should be carefully done so that 
not a particle escapes, and if burned in the open air the whole 
should be afterwards buried. 
I am reminded of the care necessary in carrying out this 
operation, as when calling on a bee-keeper in a foul-broody district 
last autumn I saw combs from some stocks that had been 
condemned as a very bad case of foul brood. These were supposed 
to have been burned the previous week, a fire having been made in 
the open, and the frames and comb of the worst stocks had been 
consigned to the flames. They had only been partially destroyed, 
and I saw the bees from other stocks busily employed among the 
debris in clearing up any honey that remained. No wonder that 
foul brood was rampant in that district, and careful bee-keepers in 
the neighbourhood will doubtless suffer from the carelessness of 
this negligent bee-keeper. 
If there are a number of good frames they may be preserved 
for future use by boiling them, as this will kill the germs of foul 
brood. They may then be used again, but as frames can now be 
made and bought so cheaply it is probably not worth the trouble. 
If the hives are in good condition they need not be destroyed, if 
some sulphur is burned in them after covering the hive as closely 
as it is possible. This will destroy all the germs, and afterwards 
the hive should be well washed inside and out with boiling water, 
and painted with carbolic acid, working it well into every crevice. 
Leave the hive empty for a month or two to allow the smell from 
the acid to pass away. The hives may then be used again with 
impunity, and there will be no further danger from foul brood 
unless brought from other stocks. 
Procure some native black bees from a healthy neighbourhood, 
and if in straw skeps early in the spring early swarms may be put 
into the frame hives. If foul brood exists in the neighbourhood, 
and bee-keepers will combine among themselves, this disease may 
be eradicated. I find foul brood is much more prevalent in the 
south and west of England than it is in the northern and midland 
counties. Why it should be so I do not know. I do not think 
there is a single case of foul brood within many miles of my apiary. 
I hope it will continue so. 
If there are still any stocks in which there is the least suspicion 
of foul brood I would recommend the Canadian plan of dealing 
with this disease. This is done by removing all the bees from an 
affected colony, and placing them in a clean hive with frames 
having a strip of guide comb to act as starter. On the evening of 
the fourth day remove the frames and any work the bees may have 
done, and insert new ones into the same hive with whole sheets of 
foundation. This, according to the American bee journals, is suc¬ 
cessful in curing this disease. The experiment would be worth 
trying in this country, but should be deferred until the weather is 
warmer in the spring.— An English Bee-keeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
W. Barron & Son, Elvaston Nurseries, Borrowash, Derby. —Catalogue 
of Trees. 
Dobie & Dicks, 66, Deansgate, Manchester.— Seed Catalogue. 
Dobie & Mason, 22, Oak Street, Manchester.— List of Seeds, 
W. J. Godfrey, Exmouth.— Catalogue of Chrysanthemums, 
Hogg & Wood, Coldstream. —Seed Order Sheet, 
J. B. Pearson & Sons, Chilwell Nurseries, Beeston, ’^qUb.— Garden 
Seeds. 
W. Wood & Son, Wood Green, N. —Seed List, 
All correspondence 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. We request that no one will write privately 
to any of our correspondents, as doing so subjects them to 
unjustifiable trouble and expense. 
Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions 
relating to Gardening and those on Bee subjects, and should 
never send more than two or three questions at once. All 
articles intended 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. 
Book (A. J.'). —You did not do what you observed we asked of 
another correspondent—namely, send us a postcard addressed to your¬ 
self. Tour other question would have been answered this week had it 
been written on a separate sheet. It will have attention. 
lilftlng Salsafy (^Gaddwr). —It is always advisable to lift Salsafy 
and store it in sand in a cool place, but safe from frost, in a cellar or 
root-house. It keeps excellently in such places, provided the sand be 
just moist enough to prevent the roots shrivelling. The tops should not 
be cut off too close to the crown or root, but about an inch of the leaf¬ 
stalks left. As the season is so far advanced you may lay the plants in 
under a north wall, burying them up to the crowns and covering in 
severe weather. 
Chinese Sacred Iillles (iZ. S. O.'). —We do not see why they 
should not succeed out hde equally as well as other of the Polyanthus 
section of Narcissus ; but these ordinary forms after forcing do not 
flourish outside in cold localities. You would not lose much by planting 
the bulbs after the leaves have ripened, and you would at least gain; 
experience. 
Fast-spreadlngr Water Plants (<?. W.). —Two of the plants 
which spread quickly in water are the common Bulrush and the yellow 
Water Lily—Nnphar lutea. How these plants or any others are to 
prevent moisture or damp from your pond, even your doctor would find 
some difficulty in explaining. Plant the Bulrush near the margin, and 
the Nuphar in deeper water. 
TTarclssus Poetlcus Ornatus (^Sussex ').—From your letter we 
should say the Narcissi were hurried too much in their early stages. 
For a time the plants are most impatient of heat, and if hurried many 
come “ blind.” If you had given the date of boxing the bulbs we could 
have formed a better idea, but judging from our own the plants ought 
to have remained in cool or semi-cool quarters for some time longer. 
Further notes will appear on the subject. 
Seedling Dracaenas (6'. jB). — Grow the plants in the best 
possible way for displaying their characteristic beauty, and when they 
are in the best condition in which you can show them send a few ol the 
more promising for examination by the Floral Committee of the Royal 
Horticultural Society. Certificates granted by this Committee have 
greater weight, and invest plants with greater value than do certificates 
granted elsewhere. If you write to Mr. A. F. Barron, Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society’s Gardens, Chiswick, London, some time prior to 
sending the plants he will give you all necessary information for that 
purpose. 
Chrysanthemum JVIadame Desgrange (A. JE.) —This variety 
will grow and flower year after year in the same spot undisturbed, pro¬ 
vided the plants are liberally supplied with water and liquid manure 
during the season of growth, and the growths thinned. They succeed 
best when lifted in spring, the ground dug and manured, the plants 
divided and replanted. If this is done they need very little attention 
afterwards. Mulching with good manure is beneficial during dry weather, 
and a little chemical manure applied to the surface and washed in 
certainly assists the plants. In well dug and liberally enriched soil 
they seldom need other attention beyond watering. 
lioella anceps (A. IT. E.'). —The white material on your Lselias ie 
scale. Imported Orchids are nearly always infested with this pest. 
They should have been thoroughly cleaned when they arrived, and if 
properly attended to afterwards would not have got into their present 
lamentable condition. If neglected much longer the plants will be 
ruined. Your only chance is to sponge them carefully and remove all 
the offensive matter with a weak solution of softsoap. One ounce of 
the soap will be ample dissolved in a gallon of warm water. A weak 
solution of Fir tree oil or other good and safe insecticide will answer 
the same purpose. Watchfulness is needed afterwards, and directly 
scale makes its appearance, which it will for some time, the plants 
must be sponged again. It is only by constant care and frequent 
cleaning of the plants that the pests can be eradicated. The better the 
work is done each time the longer the plants will remain clean, and the 
' more certain you will be of getting rid of the insects. 
