March 11, 1869. ] 



JOUKNAL OF HOBTICULTTJRH AKD COTTAGE GAUDENEK. 



185 



one reason why I remove it altogether while she is sitting, is 

 that ehe may have no inducement to leave her nest, thouj-h I 

 much question if any amount o{ temporaturp, Rautrouumic or 

 otherwise, would load her to neglect a duty which the instincts 

 of her nature prompt her to perform. When neglect does 

 oocur, Buch aa forsaking eggs, or, worse still, refusing to feed, 

 rely on it the cause is an unho ilthy state of body, rather than 

 the result of any temporary locsl cause auperior to the calls of 

 nature. This will answer "C. A. J.'a" query as to when to 

 give egg, and when to discontinue it. 



With regard to my mill, I use an ordinary coffee mill, which 



I find answers well for diy seed, hut hemp, or any seed of a 

 moist, oily nature, clogs it up. An old half-worn-out mill not 

 set too fine would do well. 



The mating of a dark cock with a mealy hen for one nest, or 

 for any number of nests, will not affect any subsequent nests 

 from a different cock. The young cock will be fit for breeding 

 shortly, he will soon get "fiesh." The cage referred to will 

 do, it is certainly rather short, but the depth and height in 

 some degree compensate for that. 18 inches square by 10 or 



II deep are a good size. 



I make my whitewash of the best whiting. Tthink they call 

 it Paris whiting, it can be had of any chemist or oil and colour- 

 man. I mix it to the required consistency with milk, thin 

 paste, or best of all with glue size, made by boiiins the best 

 BuBsian glue in water. To produce a pale blue cokiur, add a 

 pinch of ultramarine well mixed in a litlle water, and to ob- 

 tain a still prettier and more effective shade add a little rose 

 pink, mixing till the required tint is obtained. It will, how- 

 ever, dry out very many shades lighter than the wet colour, but 

 by colouring a piece of brown paper and drying it at the fire, 

 the true shade can at once be seen. Lay it well on, and work 

 wdl into every crevice. — W. A. Blakston. 



COLOURING CANARIES. 



Having read in the Journal the article upon stained nr 

 coloured birds, I am induced to write to yon on the sul ; i-;. 

 Of the parties interested in the question I know nothing wtiat- 

 ever. For many years I possessed a large collection of diffeient 

 birds. Canaries amongst others. Upon handling them, some- 

 times I found my hands stained from yellow to a deep orange 

 colour, particularly when bathing and cleaning the feet of my 

 birds. I ascertained that this arose entirely from the bird sand 

 spread at the bottom of the cages. The colour of the sand, or 

 fine gravel, varied from light to dark. It seems fair that this 

 circumstance should be made known in justice to persons 

 thought guilty of colouring their birds. — M. D. 



[This is from a very reliable correspondent. — Eds.] 



FOUL BROOD-A NEW THEORY AND MODE 

 OP TREATMENT. 



In the last number of the German "Bee Journal" Ifindalong 

 article by Mr. A. Lambrecht, in which he developes a new 

 theory with regard to the origin of foul brood, as well ns a 

 novel method of treating the disease. As the German editor has 

 deemed the article worth copying in extcnso " by permission " 

 from the pages of another paper, whilst the writer declares 

 that he will iu all eases "guarantee a favourable result vihen 

 the prescribed operations are carrfuUij and scnqmloushj carried 

 ovt," a brief summary of the theory which he advances, and 

 the mode of cure which he recommends, may not be without 

 interest to the apiarian readers of "our Journal." 



Mr. Lambrecht declares that " the atmosphere of a hive 

 afiBicted with foul brood becomes completely infected. The 

 ammonia and sulphureted hydrogen developed therein from 

 the decomposing larvte combine to destroy the vitulity of the 

 bees. Their stores, and especially the pollen, become perma- 

 nently infected, and are, therefore, peculiarly adapted to sus- 

 tain the continuous generation of miasmatic corpuscles." He 

 then goes on to point out that "the larvcc of the bee breathe 

 atmospheric air, which, if life is to be sustained, must be pure, 

 and consist of four parts nitrogen and one part oxygen, with a 

 small portion of catbocie acid and watery vapour ; but if, as 

 has been shown, the atmosphere of a foul-breeding hive con- 

 tains in addition a quantity of ammonia and sulphureted 

 hydrogen, the creatures breathing it inhale certain death." It 

 does not, however, appear to have occurred to him that if this 

 be true of the larva?, it should be equally true of the bees, and 



espeoially of the queen, which may be said never to quit the 

 hive, and which, nevertheless, usually remains in perfect 

 health, even when all the brood combs have become foul and 

 offensive masses of corruption. After stating the fact that 

 pollen is the only nitrogenous substance which bees consume 

 aa food, Mr. Lambrecht declares it to be peculiarly susceptible 

 of decomposition, and from vari<iU8 premisen which he states 

 at length, ho finally arrives at the conclusion that there is no 

 doubt that " foul brood ori/iinatcn from decomposed pollen." 



I need not occupy space by attempting to follow the elaborate 

 and somewhat verbose chain of reasoning by which the fore- 

 going conclusion is supported, but will pass at once to the 

 mode of cure which Mr. Lambrecht so highly recommends, 

 and for the particulars of which I am indebted to the " American 

 Bee Journal" : — 



" fiarly in the morning of a fine, clear, warm day carry the 

 foul-broody hive to a moderately warm room, well lighted, 

 with closed windows. Kemove comb after comb, brushing off 

 the bees, and cut out all the cells containing pollen or brood. 

 Fill the vacant spaces thus caused by inserting pieces of worker 

 comb from healthy stocks, using such, if postiblo, as are sup- 

 plied with eggs, and fastening them in the usual manner. The 

 pieces of comb cut out should immediately be burned or 

 buried, or at least made inaccessible to bees. If the hive have 

 a moveable bottom board, anoint its lower edges with twenty 

 or thirty drops of pyroligneous acid. Then set it on three 

 equidistant triangular strips of wood, so as to elevate it slightly 

 from the ground, and burn within it a square inch of linen 

 dipped in melted brimstone, repeating this fumigation at inter- 

 vals two or three times. Then carry the hive back to its stand, 

 and open the windows of the room to allow the bees collected 

 there to pass out and return to their home. The pollen having 

 been altogether removed from tlio hive, a shallow box or plate 

 containing oatmeal should be set out for the bees near its 

 entrance. We recommend oatmeal for this purpose, as it 

 abounds in nitrogenous element?, and is hence well adapted to 

 supply the wants of the bees. As an after-cure and stimulant, 

 furnish them with honey diluted with water and slightly 

 warmed. The bees will thus more speedily recuperate; the 

 queen being fed will be encouraged to commence laying earlier 

 than she otherwise would do, and the population roused to re- 

 commence their wonted labours. 



" When hives have fixed combs it is, of course, necessary to 

 operate in a somewhat different manner. The readiest mode 

 is to stupefy the bees, transfer them to an empty hive, cut out 

 the pollen and brood, and then proceed as above directed. 



" It is generally known that the sulphurous acid developed 

 by burning brimstone (composed of one atom of sulphur and 

 two atoms of oxygen — SO2), renders innocuous the contagi- 

 ous or infectious matter generated in confined spaces, and hence 

 the intelligent reader will understand why we recommend re- 

 peated fumigations with brimstone. 



" The reason why we advise anointing the lower edges of the 

 hive with pyroligneous acid, is because the creosote it contains 

 possesses the peculiarity of arresting as well as of preventing 

 putrefactive fermentation. But as the acid has the strong and 

 penetratiugodour of creosote, (he quantity applied should be SO 

 small as not to injure or annoy the bees by superinducing pro- 

 longed excitement. 



" Foul brood most commonly manifests itself in the spring, 

 and that is the time when the curative operation can be most 

 conveniently employed. Nevertheless, should the disease occur 

 in the summer, or later in autumn, the same curative process 

 should still be employed, aa the colony will thereby certainly 

 be saved, and the pestilential malady be infallibly arrested and 

 destroyed. 



" We part from the reader with the assurance that it affords 

 us heartfelt gratification to have been able to devise from ob- 

 servation and science a process by which a disease known to 

 be disastrous and hitherto deemed incurable, may certainly be 

 eradicated at small cost of time or labour." 



If fumigation by means of brimstone be really effectual as a 

 disinfectant, it would appear that there could be no more effi- 

 cacious mode of banishing foul brood fnun an apiary than by 

 reverting for a sufficient time to the old system of bee- keeping, 

 in which swarms alone are kept, and old stocks condemned to 

 the brimstone pit, the fumes of which might in this way be 

 expected to answer a double purpose. 



I may remark, also, that the efficacy of the process of disin- 

 fection by the use of snl]ihuric acid, as advised by Dr. Preuss, 

 would appear to be entirely dependant on the correctness of 

 the fungoid theory which he has advanced, certain experiments 



