810 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 10, 1890. 
■which is very plentiful, and will in a few years be a plague to the 
husbandman. Honey is also being gathered ; the Grey Willows 
■supply it plentifully, and I observe the Punic bees are gathering 
more in proportion to their strength than other bees are. I hope 
this will be a sufficient explanation, though I thought the context of 
■ray article at page 269 made all clear. 
Spreading Brood. 
Although this subject has been frequently before your readers, 
one phase of it has not. It will be remembered that when it was 
first suggested there was not the slightest hint as to caution being 
exercised. The latest advice I have seen published is as amusing as 
it is sure to be a failure. Here it is. “ As the centre combs are well 
advanced with brood, and the outside ones will contain eggs and 
larvae, lift the centre combs to the outside, and let those outside go 
•to the centre.” These may not be the exact words, but are the proper 
meaning. The idea thatthe’centre combs contain the most advanced 
brood is absurd. The brood of centre combs have to perform the 
same evolution as the brood of the outer, and if the beginner will 
■not only think, but examine the combs the queen filled with brood 
first, about the twenty-eighth day after the bees were hived, or after 
the bees have commenced breeding briskly, he will find nothing but 
■eggs and grubs in the centre, while the outer combs will contain 
sealed brood. 
Fastening Comb Foundation. 
Having been the first in Great Britain to manufacture comb 
foundation, following the Germans, I am able to say that there 
is no plan so effective as the groove, and with genuine wax, pro¬ 
perly made sheets, and shallow frames, there is not the slightest 
necessity for wiring frames. There is no plan for fixing sheets in 
frames or bars but what I have given a fair trial so far back as 
twenty-eight years ago. If your readers having the back numbers 
of the Cottage Crar(iener about 1860, they will find my advice how to 
fix guide combs by the aid of a heated smooth surface of iron. By 
the same plan I fastened foundation to bars of supers, and when 
glass was used strong gum was employed, thereby leaving no mark 
but the centre rib of foundation on the glass. The Americans are 
following up this plan, and have brought out an apparatus heated 
by a lamp to effect the same purpose. If a lamp is to be used the 
beginner will find it much handier to have it beneath the straight 
and smooth surfaced metal. 
Brace Combs. 
I have frequently shown how all the extra labour to the bees 
and excessive propolising about supers may be avoided by using 
the Stewarton form of crown, with slips or slides of wood, and 
admitting the bees to the supers from the outer combs only. The 
Americans, whom our “ modern” bee-keepers copy, are troubled 
about the brace combs and excessive propolising, and devising plans 
to avoid it. They are in one respect coming to our plans, and one 
bee-keeper has produced a frame with a double top bar, almost 
similar to one I used in 1863. 
Carbolic Acid. 
“ C. R.” asks how carbolic acid should be used in bee-manipula¬ 
tions, as he does not like the smoker. It would be well if every bee¬ 
keeper was of the same opinion. Nearly every combustible burned 
in smokers contains creosote ; this when mixed with the smoke 
colours the honeycomb, and enters the cells eontaining honey, 
giving it an unpleasant taste. I was the first to make this simple 
method of clearing bees from supers or combs public. The late 
Wm. Raitt of Blairgowrie acknowledged this, and gave me due 
credit for it. Mr. Cheshire, however, gives Raitt the credit, and 
■others repeat the error. To empty supers of bees, or to drive bees 
from combs, take medium brown paper, and smear a little on both 
sides, then quickly but cautiously insert between the combs, and 
if the day is warm the bees will retreat in a few seconds. The 
tops of the bars should have a slight touch of the acid ; a feather 
answers the purpose very well, and will be found useful to insert 
between the combs to thoroughly cause the bees to retreat. I 
prefer crude acid, and to prevent robbers a cloth dipped in a weak 
solution should be at hand to throw over the crown of the hive. 
The only care needed with carbolic acid is never to use more than 
will leave the odour, and only on the opposite part you wish the 
bees to retreat to. 
Plagiarism. 
Plagiarism and appropriating the ideas of others has been rather 
common of late, and when an editor gets information from one and 
credits another with it, it cannot be said of him that he is clever. 
A bee book was published some two years ago, and the reviewer 
called upon readers to give their opinion, especially that part on 
removing bees to the Heather. T. Bonner Chambers, Esq., did so, 
and gave a quotation from the pages of the Journal of Horticulture 
which read not unlike the passage in the book, and asked where the 
author of the book got his information, but neither the editor nor 
author replied. There has been appearing in numerous papers and 
journals articles by “ J. Sarginson,” which read almost word for 
word as a portion of the Highland and Agricultural Society’s prize 
essay. The editor of The Rural World informs me that it was 
copied from the Westmoreland and Cumberland Advertiser, having 
been delivered by “ J. S.” as a lecture. I have as yet been unable 
to find this individual. Should this meet the eye of any reader of 
his acquaintance full information of his whereabouts will oblige.—■ 
A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
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. 
Fumlg-ator (TF. H.). —We have not seen the article to which you 
refer, nor the vendor’s description of it. Perhaps more particulars will 
be forwarded in due time. We are glad, however, that you have at last 
found something that will destroy green fly and thrips. 
A Monstrous Pbalus ■Walllchl (T. W. A). —The flower sent is 
very interesting as a structural peculiarity. The two petals and one of 
the sepals have disappeared, and in their place there is an additional lip 
partially enclosing what would be the ordinary lip. The flower thus 
has two sepals and two perfect lips but only one column. Were there 
many flowers on the plant of similar formation ? 
Apple Golden Ducat (W. TF.). —In the “Fruit Manual” the fol¬ 
lowing description is given of the above little known Apple. Fruit, 
above medium size, 3 inches wide, and 2^ inches high; round, and 
obtusely angular. Skin, rich yellow, having some pale broken streaks 
of crimson on the side exposed to the sun, and the whole surface strewed 
with large russet dots. Eye, open, with divergent segments, like Blen¬ 
heim Pippin, set in a pretty deep and even basin. Stamens, median ; 
tube, funnel-shaped. Stalk, about 1 inch long, slender, inserted in a 
wide and deep cavity. Flesh, yellowish, tender, juicy, sweet, and briskly 
flavoured. Cells, roundish, obovate ; abaxile. A dessert or cooking 
Apple ; in use during October and November. A very old Apple, men¬ 
tioned by Worledge. 
The Cucumber Tree (5. B.'). —This popular name is applied to 
the Averrhoa Bilimbi, a native of Goa and other parts of the East 
Indies, and is now cultivated in South America. The tree is only about 
8 feet high, and produces a beautiful green, smooth, fleshy fruit, of the 
size and shape of a small Cucumber. Ilheede says that the fruit when 
ripe is excellent to eat, but when unripe they are preserved with sugar, 
or vinegar and brine, and although it should be of an agreeable acid 
