416 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ November 10, 1887. 
impetus to the childish jokes by which certain ignorant 
people across the Atlantic attempt to ruin an honest 
industry in which many of their countrymen are engaged. 
At the present time many of the bee-keepers of my 
acquaintance are unable to effect a sale of their honey, 
and yet they have deprived their stock very closely. To 
do this they have had to expend a considerable amount of 
time, to purchase a large quantity of sugar, and have on 
hand a fictitious surplus which they may very possibly be 
compelled to use in the apiary. They have therefore lost 
very considerably. On the other hand, in certain instances 
where care has been taken to discover a market before 
taking the honey from the stocks a fair profit has been 
left to pay for the labour. 
To those bee-keepers who find a difficulty in disposing 
of their ordinary surplus at a remunerative price, my 
advice is not to closely extract from the combs of the hive 
itself, but to leave sufficient in every case to keep the bees 
until spring. That honey only can be considered surplus 
which is the overplus of food required by the bees them¬ 
selves. If the bee-keeper can make a profit by also 
taking the supply of honey left for the support of the 
bees, and supplying them with syrup at a profit to him¬ 
self, he will doubtless pursue that policy with advantage; 
but if he is unable to effect the exchange at a profit he is 
not only injuring himself but he is also doing a great injury 
to others by glutting the market with a fictitious surplus, 
and thereby reducing prices, and rendering bee-keeping a 
more precarious undertaking by increasing the supply 
when there is no demand. —Felix. 
BACILLUS MINOR. 
I MUST ask you, in justice to Mr. Cowan and myself, to allow space 
for the article to which reference is made by “ A Ilallamshire Bee¬ 
keeper” on the above subject in your,issue of October 27th, and, which 
I venture to think will sufficiently answer the charges brought forward. 
The contribution was made under the head of “ Useful Hints,”- in the 
British Bee Journal of July 21st, 1887, by myself, and of it Mr. Cowan 
was not even cognisant. 
The entire responsibility, therefore, rests upon inG, and I flatter 
myself that public opinion will acquit me of any desire to infringe 
upon what your correspondent claims as his own discovery, 
At all events, with him I have no desire to enter into controversy, 
and beg respectfully to decline being drawn into any discussion beyond 
the present contribution.—T he Writer of “ Useful Hints ” in the 
British Bee Journal, November 2nd, 1887. 
“ Bacillus Minor. —We notice in several American communica¬ 
tions, also in our contemporary, the Record (current number), descrip¬ 
tions of diseased brood, which differs considerably in its symptoms from 
the ordinary foul brood (Bacillus alvei).. Of this disease we have had 
cognisance for-some years, but always felt inclined to consider it incipient 
foul brood, which, if allowed to remain undisturbed, would end in the 
malignant Bacillus alvei. The symptoms-are—listiessness in the bees, 
while other colonies are energetically at work ; death of the larva; at all 
ages, but chiefly in its early stages ; putridity, free from the usual offen¬ 
sive smell of foul brood ; death of the nymphs, unable to emerge from 
the cells, but free from putrescence, and. pierced and sunken cells. Of 
the few young bees which emerge most, are imperfectly developed, some 
being wingless, others having one wing only, some minus a leg, and 
many extremely diminutive—the prettiest little dwarfs, indeed, that 
can well' be imagined. Gradually the colony dwindles, although, when 
possessing a prolific queen, the population is of f en maintained at par 
for many months—even to the end of the second year after the com¬ 
mencement of the attack. 
“.On opening a diseased hive there is no offensive smell perceptible, 
but still there is an absence of the pure fragrance emanating, from a 
healthy colony during the stpring season—a certain acidity which 
betokens fermentation, With the Editor of the Record, we are inclined 
to the opinion that the disease is partly congenital, but not entirely so, 
since we have known cases in which the contagion has been conveyed 
from hive to hive, and in which a change of queens has resulted in the 
infection of the newly introduced and healthy queen. We have been in 
the habit of designating this disease by the title of Bacillus minor, 
although its deadly effect, though slower, is equally sure with that of 
* Bacillus major alvei.’ That its cause' is a species of Bacillus we have 
not the least doubt, and we hope to be able to induce Mr. Cheshire fully 
to experiment upon some diseased colonies, and to report the results. 
Some of the queens lose then- pubescence, and become feeble qnd 
languid, and whenever, in such cases, an attempt has been made by the 
Lees to supersede the queen, it has invariably failed, the embryo insect 
| perishing either in the larval or pupa stage. Much of the dead laTvse in 
the early stage becomes desiccated, and is extruded by the bees, and 
may often be found on the alighting-board, while beneath may be seen, 
often in considerable number, the abortive nymphs. Our attempts at 
curative measures have always failed, although we have applied phenol, 
salicylic acid (both in syrup and as disinfectants), camphor, coffee, &c. 
Queens of other infected colonies have, to all appearance, continued in 
a perfectly normal condition, retaining their pubescence and fertility to 
the very last. We trust a remedy may soon be found for this insidious 
and most dangerous disease.” 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Tbomis S. Ware, Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham. —Catalogue of Roses 
and Sh> ubs. and List of Specialties. 
James Ya*es, Underbank, Stockport.— Catalogue of Carnations and 
Picotees. 
E wiug A; Co., Havant. —Price List of Nursery Stock. 
B. R. Cant, Colchester. —Descriptive Bose Catalogue. 
W. Eth rington, Swanscombe, Kent. —Select List of Chrysanthemums. 
Cooling & Sons, Bath. —Catalogue of Roses and Fruit Trees. 
Little i Bal’antyne, Carlis'e. —Catalogue of Trees and Shrubs. 
T. S. Ware, Tottenham. —Catalogues of Roses, Climbing Plants, Pceonies, 
and Specialties. 
®~ c ’ 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 un¬ 
avoidably. 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 communica¬ 
tions. 
Book ( Young Beginner). —“Select Ferns and Lycopods,” by Mr. B. S' 
Williams, obtainable at the Victoria and Paradise Nursery, Upper Holloway, 
will probably suit you. 
Tennis Lawn (J. L .).—It is not absolutely necessary under all circum¬ 
stances in forming a lawn tenn’s ground to put a layer of chalk or other 
drainage underneath before laying down the turf. 
Bramley’s Seedling Apple (.4 Lincolnshire Gardener). —No matter how 
good your “ authority ” is on the subject, we venture to say that the variety 
mentioned is quite different from Warner's King. The fruit is different in 
appearance and solidity, keeping much betteb than .the other, and the tree is 
a more sturdy grower, yet is abundantly vigorous to-form a fine standard, 
Gros Maroe Grape (Gervase). —No doubt, as you say, the evidence ia 
confiicting relative to the keeping properties of this fine-looking Grape. A 
good deal depends on houses and management in preserving Grapes sound. 
We have seen Black Hamburghs in February, but-not often, and on the 
evidence of those few we cannot regard the variety as a long keeper. As 
you “ require sound Grapes of good quality in March, and cannot afford 
space for experiment,” you will adopt a safe course in not relying on Gros 
Maroc. 
Chionodoxa Lire ilia- (S. Porte us). — This beautiful spring flowering 
bulbous plant is quite distinct from Seilla bifo ia, though it is not uncommon 
to find a few of the latter amongst the Chionodoxas. The bulbs a-e very 
similar, and as they are said to grow together where the former are col¬ 
lected it is not easy to separate them, though all firms of standing make 
every endeavour to do so. If the whole of what you ordered for the Glory 
of the Snow proved to be Squills we should try some bulbs from another 
source. Chionodoxas are well worth cultivating, and are as hardy as and 
often flower with Snowdrops, the combination being appropriate and 
attractive. 
Improving Lawn (B. Lucas). —It would be of little use sowing grass 
seeds now with the object of giving your lawn a “ better and greener face,” 
but if you had done so a month or six weeks ago it would in all probability 
had a greener appearance in winter. Many lawns have been injured by the 
protracted heat and drought of summer, especially where the soil was thin 
and poor, and a top dressing of sifted soil, wood ashes, and manure, with a 
little bonemeil added thereto, and used as a top-dressing in February, sowing 
towards the end of March a renovating mixture of lawn seeds would improve 
them considerably. When lawns consist largely of deep-rooted weeds, such 
as Plantains, it is the best plan to dig them up, forking the weeds out care¬ 
fully, add fresh soil, or otherwise enrich the ground, then Sow seeds for 
forming an entirely new lawn. Dry weather in early spring should be chosen 
for doing the work in question. 
Pears not Bearing (A. Donald). —It is quite impossible for us to advise 
you on the question of root-pruning, as you give not the faintest idea as to 
