902 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



"(6) Tbo comparison by weighing places them in substantially the same order. 

 Where there is a variance it is reasonably accounted for by the difiference in the size 

 of the cells. Thus the Van Deusen, had it carried the amount of cell walls that 

 woukl have been necessary for worker corab, would evidently have been of consider- 

 ably greater weight." 



An experiment ivith foul brood. — An attempt was made to solve the 

 important practical question as to wlietUer the germs of foul brood 

 may be transmitted by the use of foundation made from infected wax. 

 Experiments were begun in 1801 to determine whether the germs are 

 killed by the temperature to which wax is usually raised in making the 

 foundation, but not completed until 1894:. In these experiments the 

 wax was subjected to a temperature of 175^. No sign of foul brood 

 was found on corab made from it until October S, when a single cell con- 

 taining what was apparently foul-brood matter was found in each of 

 the hives to which the foundation had been supplied. 



Appended to this account is a paragraph stating that in a colony 

 showing unmistakable signs of foul brood in 1892 and since then kept 

 under observation for this point, there was some slight evidence of the 

 disea.se in August, but that by October it had all disappeared. 



Feeding bad'. — Experiments made to determine the value of this 

 process resulted very advantageously. In the expernnents, honey 

 diluted with 15 to 20 per cent of hot water was used and placed in 

 milk pans on top of the sections, protected by an empty hive or other 

 bee-proof rim. To give the bee a foothold, strips of clean cloth were 

 employed, one end being dipped in the honey and the other allowed 

 to reach to the tops of the sections. 



The i)rocess is said to lessen the labor of extracting, since incomplete 

 combs are filled and hence evened up. The colonies are improved both 

 in numerical strength and in the proportion of young bees, a iioint of 

 great importance in successful wintering. Further, over and above all 

 drawbacks, there is said to be a positive gain in profit amounting to 

 from 30 to 60 per cent, according to the degree of advancement to 

 which the sections have been carried by the bees when the process is 

 begun. 



Prevention and management of swarming. — Under this head the 

 author considers the 2 methods for prevention of swarming, namely, 

 clipping the wings of the queen, and the use of traps. It is recom- 

 mended to keep the traps on the hives until the danger of after-swarm- 

 ing has passed, which may be from 10 to IG days. Then they should 

 be removed to allow the young queen to take her flight, care being 

 exercised that she does not get caught in the trap and perish there. 



Experiments were made with Conser's hive and with Langdon's non- 

 swarming attachment, but with unfavorable results. The season was 

 somewhat unfavorable to swarming, and continued tests during sev- 

 eral favorable seasons are considered necessary for conclusive results. 



A note is added relative to experiments with 5 banded bees, which, 

 of all the bees in a large apiary, sliowed the greatest disposition to rob. 



