528 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  4,  1902. 
Obituary, 
Mr.  Edward  Brown,  jun.,  of  Southampton. 
It  is  with  much  regret  that  we  have  to  record  the  sudden 
death  of  Mr.  Edward  Brown,  jun.,  eldest  son  of  Mr.  Edward 
Brown,  J.P.,  of  Above  Bar  and  Hill  Lane,  Southampton,  which 
occurred  at  his  residence,  Hughenden,  New  Alma  Road,  South¬ 
ampton.  Mr.  Brown  was  a  very  enthusiastic  and  successful  cul¬ 
tivator  of  the  Chrysanthemum,  as  well  as  being  a  good  all-round 
horticulturist.  He  was  also  without  doubt  one  of  the  most  bona- 
fide  amateurs  that  exhibited ;  he  did  the  whole  of  the  work  con¬ 
nected  with  his  great  hobby  with  his  own  hands,  from  striking 
the  cuttings,  through  all  the  various  stage®  until  ready  for  exhi¬ 
bition.  He  kept  in  his  note-book  a  strict  record  of  all  the  cul¬ 
tural  operations  for  future'  reference.  This,  year,  with  only 
between  130  and  140  plants  housed  at  one  time,  he  was  able  to 
exhibit  twelve  blooms  at  the  October  Show  of  the  N.C.S., 
seventy-eight  at  Southampton,  twenty-four  at  Portsmouth,  and 
twenty-four  at  Winchester,  winning  seven  firsts,  one  second,  and 
one  third  prizes.  He  was  also  awarded  two  silver  medals  at 
Southampton,  being  the  most  successful  exhibitor  both  in  the 
divisions  open  to  gentlemen’s  gardeners  and  amateurs  and  open 
to  amateurs  only.  This  is  a  record  that  will  probably  never  be 
attained  by  any  other  amateur.  In  fact,  Mr.  Brown  was  just 
one  of  those  members  who  could  be  ill-spared  by  any  society,  and 
whose  place  it  will  be  difficult  to  fill. — F. 
NATIONAL  FRUIT  GROWERS’  FEDERATION. 
We  have  received  the  following  letter  :  “  I  beg  to  call  your 
atention  to  the  objects  of  this  federation,  which  has  been  formed 
for  t he  protection  of  the  interests  of  fruit  growers  and  market 
gardeners.  You  are  probably  aware  from  experience  that  the 
industry  now  labours  under  serious  disadvantages  as  regards 
railway  rates  and  want  of  suitable  conveyances  and  quick  transit 
for  perishable  goods,  but,  perhaps  few  fully  realise  the  unfair 
character  of  the  competition  to  which  British  produce  is  exposed, 
and  with  which  nothing  but  a  powerful  combination  of  a  national 
character  will  be  able  to  cope. 
"  A  provisional  executive  committee  has  been  formed  com¬ 
prising  representatives  from  the  various  fruit  growing  districts 
of  England,  and  the  names  of  these  gentlemen  should  inspire 
confidence  that  the  business  of  the  federation  will  be  efficiently 
carried  out.  In  order  to  make  the  movement  as  successful  as  it 
should  be,  a  large  membership  is  necessary,  and  for  this  reason 
the  subscription  has  been  fixed  at  the  low  sum  of  10s.  It  is 
earnestly  hoped  that  you  will  not  only  join  the  federation  your¬ 
self,  but  that  you  will  also  endeavour  to  make  its  existence  and 
objects  known  to  your  friends.  A  copy  of  the  rules  will  be  sent 
on  application.  Cheques  should  be  made  payable  to  the  secre¬ 
tary,  and  an  official  receipt  will  be  forwarded  for  all  subscriptions. 
Trusting  to  receive  an  early  and  favourable  reply,  and  that  I 
shall  have  the  pleasure  of  enrolling  you  as  a  member. — A.  T. 
Matthews,  Secretary,  28,  Eaton  Rise,  Ealing,  London,  W.” 
We  append  a  copy  of  the  objects  of  the  federation  :  — 
“  The  objects  of  the  federation  are  to  create  a  permanent 
central  organisation  representative  of  the  fruit  growers  and 
market  gardeners  of  the  United  Kingdom,  for  the  promotion  of 
their  common  interests  as  a  whole,  while  reserving  perfect  local 
liberty  of  action  to  the  constituent  members. 
(a)  To  prevent  by  every  possible  means  the  granting  by 
railway  companies  of  preferential  rates  and  facilities 
for  the  carriage  of  foreign  fruit  and  market  garden 
produce. 
(b)  To  secure  quicker  means  of  transit  and  fair  rates  from 
railway  companies,  and  consider,  complaints  which 
are  likely  to  be  ignored  by  companies  when  made 
by  individual  members  of  the  federation. 
(cl  To  prevent  jams  made  of  foreign  fruit  being  sold  by 
misdescription,  misrepresentation,  or  implication,  as 
being  made  of  home-grown  fruit,  and  to  urge  the 
distinct  labelling  of  British  fruit  jams;  and  also  to 
prevent  the  sale  of  fresh  fruit,  either  wholesale  or 
retail,  by  misdescription  or  misrepresentation. 
(d)  lo  affiliate  with  any  other  kindred  society  or  societies. 
•  (e)  To  promote,  support,  or  oppose  legislative  or  other 
measures  affecting  the  aforesaid  trade. 
(f)  The  doing  of  all  such  things  as  may  be  conducive  to 
the  prosperity  of  fruit  growers  and  market  gar¬ 
deners,  or  incidental  to  the  attainment  of  the  above 
objects. 
(g ’  The  collection  and  dissemination  of  statistical  and 
other  information  relating  to  the  fruit-growing 
industry.” 
a 
tR 
HE  BEE-KEEPER^ 
Fertile  Workers. 
The  production  of  what  is  termed  a  fertile  worker  is 
due  to  the  larvse  of  any  ordinary  worker  bee  not  being 
weaned  at  the  proper  time,  the  continuance  of  the  extra 
nourishing  food,  called  “royal  jelly,”  causing  a  partial 
development  of  the  ovaries.  The  ovaries  in  the  ordinary 
worker,  reared  from  a  similar  egg  (the  larvse  being  weaned 
at  the  proper  time),  are  very  rudimentary,  simply  consisting 
of  a  few  thread-like  tubes,  without  a  vestige  of  either  eggs 
or  germs.  In  consequence  of  these  fertile  workers  being 
physically  incapable  of  mating  with  the  drones,  they  are 
only  able  to  deposit  eggs  which  will  produce  males.  They 
are  a  great  nuisance  in  an  apiary,  and  at  times  cause  con¬ 
siderable  annoyance,  taxing  the  bee-keeper’s  ingenuity  and 
readiness  of  resource  to  rid  himself  of  them.  They  gene¬ 
rally  appear  in  a  colony  which  has  been  without  a  fertile 
queen  for  some  time,  and  as  this  rapidly  results  in  weak 
colonies,  the  condition  of  such  a  stock  demands  serious 
and  prompt  attention,  as  procrastination  will  only  still 
further  lessen  the  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  hive. 
Owing  to  the  actions  of  the  bees  when  in  possession  of  a 
fertile  worker  being  apparently  similar  to  those  when 
headed  by  a  fertile  queen,  it  will  easily  be  understood  that 
great  difficulty  is  experienced  in  finding  her.  If  a  stock 
has  been  queenless  for  any  lengthy  period,  it  is  always 
necessary  to  thoroughly  examine  it,  and  observe  closely 
the  actions  of  the  bees.  Many  a  valuable  queen  has  been 
killed  by  attempting  to  re-queen  such  colonies  without  first 
ascertaining  the  exact  condition  of  the  colony.  The  fact 
that  a  fertile  worker  does  not  differ  in  outward  appearance 
from  her  other  sisters  adds  to  the  difficulty  of  detecting 
her,  and  unless  the  apiarist  is  fortunate  enough  to  capture 
her  in  the  act  of  depositing  eggs,  her  discovery  is  prac¬ 
tically  impossible. 
One  of  the  reliable  signs  of  a  fertile  worker  being 
present  in  a  hive  is  the  irregular  manner  in  which  the 
eggs  are  laid,  probably  six  or  more  in  a  cell,  and  also  the 
manner  in  which  the  cells  are  capped  over.  Although  the 
brood  is  in  worker  cells,  the  cappings  are  raised  exactly 
like  drone  cells.  The  peculiarity  regarding  the  number 
of  eggs  in  a  cell  may  also  be  found  with  a  young  prolific 
queen  when  she  is  cramped  for  room,  or  when  the  paucity 
of  bees  compels  her  to  lay  more  than  once  in  the  cells  which 
they  can  comfortably  cover. 
There  is  this  notable  difference,  however,  between  the 
two  methods  of  ovipositing — the  young  queens  lay  theirs 
compactly,  not  a  cell  overlooked,  whereas  the  fertile 
worker,  whose  ovaries  are  only  imperfectly  filled,  will  occa¬ 
sionally  miss  a  cell  altogether,  giving  the  eggs  a  scattered 
appearance.  In  getting  rid  of  one.  the  knowledge  that 
she  has  never  left  the  hive  to  meet  the  drones  for  fertilisa¬ 
tion  is  sometimes  taken  advantage  of.  The  hive  is  removed 
bodily  to  a  distance  and  an  empty  one  put  in  its  position  ; 
the  bees  are  then  thrown  from  the  frames  on  the  ground, 
and  they  immediately  begin  to  return  to  the  old  location, 
while  the  fertile  worker,  being  unable  to  find  her  way 
back,  is  lost.  This  is  a  simple,  but  not  an  infallible  plan, 
as  by  some  means  she  will  occasionally  find  her  way  back 
to  the  old  spot.  Should  this  occur,  and  she  still  persists 
in  laying,  a  plan  which  involves N  more  trouble,  but  is 
more  certain,  is  to  open  the  hive  on  a  fine  day,  shake  all 
the  bees  off  the  bars  into  the  hive,  removing  all  the  bars 
but  those  containing  brood,  and  placing  them  on  one  side. 
Now  replace  the  quilts  above  the  fertile  worker,  bees,  and 
brood,  and  place  it  in  a  different  position,  standing  a 
fresh  hive  in  the  old  spot,  with  the  combs  previously 
removed  inside,  and  a  bar  of  brood  in  all  stages  taken 
from  another  colony  when  practicable. 
Those  bees  which  accompanied  the  fertile  worker  having 
marked  the  old  position,  will  very  soon  all  return,  and  the 
bar  of  brood  causes  them  to  remain ;  otherwise,  if  left 
without  either  queen  or  brood,  they  would  disperse  among 
the  other  hives.  The  fertile  worker  by  this  plan  is  left 
with  her  brood,  and  probably  a  few  workers  and  drones, 
to  _  die  off  or  to  be  destroyed  by  robbers.  There  is  one 
point  which  must  be  emphasised,  viz.,  the  uselessness  of 
