56 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Jacvary 16, IS CO. 
SWAKMING. 
The causes of swarming and its prevention have long occupied 
the minds of continental bee-keepers, as well as those in the British 
Tslands ; but nothing has been brought forward that will in any 
way be serviceable to bee-keepers, nor prevent Nature taking its 
usual course. I have dealt with the subject largely, and have 
shown the causes of swarming, and the only preventive by the 
introduction of young and fertile queens at the proper time. 
■'‘Feli.v” found fault with this teaching. I threw down the 
gauntlet, and along with many others waited patiently for his 
method of preventing swarming by “ skilful management,” but it 
has not been forthcoming, so young fertile queens, combined with 
ample room, must be looked upon as the only preventive until the 
fertile brain of “ Felix ” or others give other desirable and reliable 
information. 
Another writer in a contemporary told us that the best thing to 
do was to keep the sort of bee that would not swarm! Novices 
would be apt to inquire what sort of bee is that, and where is it to 
be had ; but experienced bee-keepers wonld only smile and exclaim. 
The bees that will not swarm will soon become extinct. It is the 
bees that swarm that give the large surplus of honey when a 
protracted fine season occurs. 
Shallow Frames. 
These have come more to the front during the past year, not 
■only as being more suitable for bee-keeping generally, but as being 
suitable for disposing of honey in the comb, being better adapted 
for storing surplus honey than sections. The last-named original 
make are also giving way to the Lanarkshire ones wnth narrow bottom 
rail. As I have used these shallow frames between thirty and 
forty years, and the same hive without the ends on the bar for full 
forty years, it is pleasant to find that our ideas, plans, and modes of 
management are being largely adopted, although the journal the 
information is given in is not named or acknowledged. Judging 
from the past, it will not occupy much of the future until the 
system of management advocated so long in these pages becomes 
general. 
Beginxers. 
During the past six months I have been in correspondence with 
many beginners, asking for information. If health permit, I will, 
for their benefit, give some instructions in future numbers, which I 
trust will enable many to make a successful start, and secure a 
successful and profitable issue, and tend to make them more com¬ 
fortable in the coming years, and that the first one, 1890, will be a 
happy and profitable one for all is the fervent wish of—A Lanark. 
SHIRE Bee-keeper. 
Failure in the Introduction of Carnioli.vn Queens. 
“ C. R.,” after deposing a qneen regnant, introduced a fertile 
Carniolian one, releasing her after being caged over the bees several 
days, but the bees deposed her. She had been slightly injured, 
having a depression on the thorax, which might tend to the bees’ 
dislike for her. A second queen was treated similarly. “ C. R.” 
wishes to know the cause of his failure to introduce. It is more 
•common than is generally supposed for hives to have more than one 
queen, and to introduce an alien one to such a hive is almost certain 
in every case to result in failure, as it also will be if eggs or larvte 
is in the hive. Sometimes queen cells may not be started by the 
presence of a caged queen, but often they are, and when this is the 
case the alien queen is sooner or later doomed to destruction. 
Hence the caution necessary to deprive the bees of the power of 
raising a successor from the eggs or larvae, and to cage the queen 
(when valuable) on every occasion at least forty-eight hours before 
releasing her.—A. L. B. K. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
J. Backhouse & Son, York.— List, 1800. 
J. Carter & Co,, 237, High Holborn. —Select List of New and Beautiful 
Cnrysantliemums. 
H. Cannell & Sons, Swanley.— List of Chrysanthemums, 
Fisher, Son & Sibray, Sheffield.— Catalogue of Kitchen Garden and 
Flower Seals. 
G. E. Elliott, Huddersfield. —Catalogue of Vegetahle and Flower Seeds, 
G. Stevens, St. John’s Nursery, Putney.— Catalogue of Chrysan¬ 
themums, 
Little &Ballantyre, Carlisle.— Catalogue of Trees and Shrubs. 
Thomas Laxton, Bedford. —List of Seeds, Potatoes, and Hoots. 
Kent & Bryden, Darlington. —Seed Catalogue, 1800. 
J. E. Tranter, Hart Street, Henley-on-Thames.— Catalogue of Vege¬ 
table and Flower Seeds. 
Dicksons & Co., Waterloo Place, Edinburgh. —Garden Seeds, 1800, 
Peter Henderson, New York.— Manual of Feerything in the Garden, 
1800 (^illustrated'), and Farmers’ Manual. 
J. E. Barnes, Norwich.— Catalogue of Reliable Seeds. 
Jarman & Co., Chard, Somerset. —Seed Manual for 1800. 
W. Cutbush & Son, Highgate and 'Ba.Tnet—Catalogue of Seeds, 1800. 
Oakshott & Millard, Keading.— Guide to Practical Gardening, 1800. 
Charles Turner, Slough.— Cata’ogue of Seeds. 
Daniels Bros., Norwich. —Lllustrated Guide for Amateur Gardeners, 
1800. 
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 communica¬ 
tions. 
Cesspool Disinfectant (F. ,T.). —The free use of chloride of lime 
when the contents are being removed may perhaps answer your purpose. 
Sulphate of iron used at the rate of 3 or 4 per cent, to the volume of 
the liquid is also as good for rendering the use of sewage less disagree¬ 
able to the operators. 
Galls on Apple Trees (WimMedon). —The holes in the portion of 
young wood sent have not been caused by birds in search of insects, 
but by the puncture of one of the gall insects for egg deposition, and 
the ultimate emergence of the progeny which eat their way out. One 
of the galls was intact on the shoot, and you will perhaps find others by 
a close examination of the trees. 
Tillandsia setacea (J. F. C.). —It is one of the small-growing 
species, and is easily managed if you can provide a suitable temperature 
for the plant. Employ a compost of peat and leaf soil, well draining the 
pot, and place the plant in a light position in a stove or any house where 
an average temperature of 60° can be maintained. Supply water freely 
at all times, but especially when the plant is growing. 
Blisters on Holly Deaves (F. S). —The appearance of the leaves 
is due to a fly puncturing and depositing eggs in them, from which 
maggots emerge and eat away the tissue in a similar way that maggots 
destroy the leaves of Celery. The Holly maggot has done great injury 
in many gardens, and in some its ravages have been checked by period¬ 
ical syringings with a solution of softsoap and petroleum. 
Soil for Apples (J. E. TF.).—Excellent Apples are grown within 
fifteen miles of London. The best soil is that inclining to be strong, 
but not very adhesive ; such as works freely in favourable weather, and 
in which Clover grows naturally, being usually suitable. It should be 
good to the depth of 2 feet and contain no stagnant water within 3 feet 
of the surface. We cannot usefully name precise localities, as we have 
no records of land for sale or lease. Information of this kind is obtain¬ 
able from agents. Much, or most, good land within the radius indicated 
is necessarily costly, and we think too high in price to justify inex¬ 
perienced persons investing in it for growing Apples alone for sale ; at 
least, they will not do so on our recommendation. 
Treatment of Allamanda Hendersonl (J, Cl). —If the plant 
has been at rest during the past two months and kept in a temperature 
of 50° to 55° it may now be started. Prune closely back—similar to 
Vines grown on the spur system—if the plant has attained the desired 
size to cover the trellis on which it may be grown, or the portion of roof 
under which it is to be trained. If grown in pots the old ball should be 
reduced by half, and then soaked in tepid water. The same or a larger 
pot should be used, according to the space to be covered with the plant. 
The drainage of the pot should be liberal, and then covered with a good 
layer of decayed manure, the most suitable compost being rich fibry 
loam, one-seventh of manure, and coarse sand. Press the soil as firmly 
