886 AgncuUuml Gazette of N.S.W. [Dec. 2, 1920. 



To Prevent the Spread of Disease. 



When foul brood is found in a liive the entrance should be immediately 

 oontrac'ted in such a way that only a few beee can pass out at one time. 

 Any. other cracks about the hive should be securely blocked up. 



Honey from diseased hives is the chief source from which infection is 

 .spread; if, therefore, extreme care is exercised to prevent robbery from 

 any diseased hive, the infection can, with care, in many cases be kept 

 from spreading-. Such care will include the disinfecting of the operator's 

 hands and any implements used in the examination of infected hives, and 

 the keen inspection of any combs interchanged with those of other colonies. 



Treatment. 



So far as is known, it has never once been recorded that a colony infected 

 with American foul brood has been freed from the disease withcTut treat- 

 ment. "Where infection is slight it may take it considerable time to destroy 

 the colony, but this it is sure to do eventually if treatment is not applied. 

 Moreover, the infected colony is a constant menace (especially when the 

 disease becomes advanced) to healthy stocks in the locality. 



Treatment consists of removing the contagious matter (tbe complete hive, 

 combs, &c.) and giving the bees a fresh start in a clean hive, the frames of 

 which contain comb foundation (full sheets) only. It has been proved that 

 by the time the bees have the foundation in the new hive built out, they will 

 have used up any infected honey that may have been carried by them from 

 the infected hive. The treatment is termed the '' shaking or starvation 

 treatment," although under certain conditions the same effect may be pro- 

 duced by a different manipulation of the colony, to be described later. 



Weakly Populated Hives. 



If the infected colony is weak in population the bees should be destroyed. 

 The following method will be found easy and effective : — Toward the late 

 afternoon prepare a boiler and have the water boiling up well. When the bees 

 have finished flying for the day, deliver a few puffs of smoke at the entrance 

 of the infected hive, press into the entrance a wire cloth screen so as to 

 prevent the bees getting out, place the hive — bees and all — in a sound sack, 

 and immerse the whole in the boiling water. Twist about occasionally so 

 that the hive parts will come apart in the sack and keep immersed in the 

 boiling water for fifteen minutes; then open the sack and empty the con- 

 tents into the water. Next take out the cover, bottom board, and body, and 

 •wash them separately in boiling water, weighting down the frames in the first 

 receptacle, and allowing them to remain for a further fifteen minutes. 



If in the first place the boiler is not large enough for complete innnersion 

 of tbe hive, make sure of killing the bees by twisting the liive about in the 

 boiling water; then treat the hive parts separately, frames first. Unless 

 there is a fair quantity of wax, it is not advisable to bother to save it; it is 

 better to burn it with the refuse. 



An alteriiative method for killiiig the bees is to blow sulphur fumes into 

 the hive with the smoker. Tliit operation is best carried out at night, a hole 



