298 



STATE BOARD OP AGRICUL/TURE. 



tightly closed hive body in which to put the diseased combs and a bee brush 

 of some sort will be needed. 



Fig. 4. Apparatus for shaking treatment: A, hive containing diseased colony (formerly in posi- 

 tion of B) ; B, clem hive; C, empty hives to receive combs after shaking; D, hive cover used as runway; 

 E, frames removed from B to give room for shaking; F, queen and drone trap; G, cover for clean hive B. 

 From Farmers' Bulletin 442, U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bureau of Entomology. 



The diseased colony is lifted to one side, within working distance of the 

 clean hive placed on the old stand. Three or four frames are then removed 

 from the center of the clean hive. The diseased combs with bees are re- 

 moved from the diseased colony one at a time and the bees are lightly brushed 

 into the middle of the clean hive. The diseased combs are then placed in 

 the tightly closed hive body. This operation is repeated until all of the bees 

 have been removed from the diseased combs. The remaining bees in the 

 diseased hive may be shaken into the clean hive. Use every precaution to 

 prevent spilling of diseased honey, and burn the brush used. A queen 

 guard is then placed over the entrance to prevent the colony from abscond- 

 ing. The whole operation should be performed as quickly as possible to 

 lessen the possibility of robbing. Experienced beekeepers who treat several 

 diseased colonies at the same time prefer to save the healthy brood remain- 

 ing after the treatment. This is done by piling the hive bodies containing 

 brood from several diseased colonies over a queen excluder on a weak dis- 

 eased colony whose entrance is contracted to prevent the possibility of rob- 

 bing. About two weeks later this colony is also treated. Commercial 

 beekeepers find it very convenient to use a hospital yard for diseased colonies 

 to which all colonies are removed immediately upon finding signs of disease. 



If the beekeeper has no wax-press or means of removing the wax from 

 the diseased combs, these combs and frames should be placed in a hole in 

 the ground and burned and the ashes buried. If the combs are to be ren- 

 dered, extreme precaution must be taken to place the diseased combs in 

 some container which is absolutely bee tight and which is stored in a build- 

 ing to which bees do not have access. Otherwise the treatment of diseased 

 colonies is time, labor and equipment wasted. Comb foundation made 

 from wax rendered from diseased combs does not transmit disease. 



A diseased hive body may be cleaned by first scraping with a hive tool 

 the inside of the walls, the grooves containing the rabbets and all parts 

 covered with propolis. The inside of the hive body should be then scorched 

 to a light brown with a blow-torch or flame of any sort. Frames which 

 have contained diseased combs may be saved by first carefully removing all 

 possible wax and propolis with a hive tool and later boiling in lye water 

 made of one pint of concentrated lye to a boiler full of water. One boiler 

 full of lye water will not treat satisfactorily more than two hundred frames. 

 The ]ye water should first be brought to a boiling point. Then with the fire 



