Ui'comber 3G, 18l!5. 



JOUKNAL, 01'' llOiaUCULXUHE AND COXXAGE GAUDKNEK. 



635 



bcea, and campelled tUoBe I had thus rvuilorud destitute to cuui- 

 iiic'iice tlie world afresh in au uufumishud habitation, but all 

 to iiu imrpuse. New coiubs wero built und iirufu>sely ijrcd in, 

 but stiU tijo m'jrtiiUt.v uoatinued. One thiny, howuvcr, buciinio 

 .syident — viz., that the infection, wliutevur it inight be, wiis 

 certaiuly confined to tUe bees themselves, since neither their 

 combs nor their brood communiciited it to those healthy stocks 

 to which they had been transferred. It therefore occurred to 

 mo, that if I could succeed in elimiuating every diseased bee, 

 retaining only tbose that wore porfectlj- healtiiy, I might sne- 

 coed in banishing the disease «Uo(;ether; and as this really 

 turned out to he a '■ jierfeet cure," I will fully describe the 

 moans by wliich it v.-us effected. Selecting a line lUy, and 

 spreading a cloth on the ground, I looked over the combs until 

 I discovered the quocu, which 1 imprisoned in a queeu cage, 

 and tlien set the Live on the ground, putting an empty one in 

 its place. I next took out the combs one by one, brushing 

 off every bee on to the cloth, placing the combs in the pre- 

 viously empty hive, aa<i completed the opera'.iun by putting 

 on the crown-bo.ird and introducing the queen at the top. In 

 this way I eflectoJ the cud I had in view, whicli was that no 

 adult bee should bo permitted to enter the new hive, that was 

 unable to rise from tiis ground and gain tlie entraiice by means 

 of its wings. A number of infant bees, as yet unable to fly, 

 were umiuestionably lost ; but I spared no pains in rescuing 

 as many of these as possible, and had the satisfaction of find- 

 ing that I had at length effected a radical cure. I am, more- 

 over, happy to say that this troublesome malady has not since 

 appeared in the apiai-y of — A Dhvonshibe Dee-keepei;. 



IION'EY HARVEST. 



As my brother is sending you an account of the cure of foul 

 brood, 1 just add a short notice of my espeiieuee during the 

 past season. 



Like my friend " T. W.," I began with three stocks. Two 

 of these were in frame hives, whilst the third was housed in a 

 llat-topped straw hive ; all were fed regularly from the begin- 

 ing of March to the end of April. The straw hive threw a 

 swarm on May 20th, weighing 5 lbs., which I placed in a frame 

 hive, taking from it on .June 21th a small eke of honey, weigh- 

 ing 9 lbs. This swan-.i sent off a " virgin '' on July ord, weigh- 

 ing G lbs. iJ oxs., and twelve days subsequently a •' virgin cast," 

 whose weight I am unable to speak of. I took a second well- 

 tilled eke of 9 lbs. from the swarm, and in addition a " super " 

 from the parent stock oa July Sind, weighing 14 lbs ; so that 

 besides quadrupling my stock I obtained 32 lbs. of fine honey. 

 The other two stocks ia frame hives have not sWarmed, but 

 have yielded together a side box and two supe.'s containing 

 M lbs. of beautiful honey. — D. K. D. 



'; FOUL BROOD CURED. 



In September, last year, I made the unpleasant discovery 

 that foul brood existed in two of my hives, some accoimt of 

 which, and of my attempt at cure, will be found in the Numbers 

 of " our Journal " for September 27 th, and October 11th. I 

 now write, as promised, to inform you of the result. 



Premising that most of your readers will not be able readily 

 to refer so far back, .ini hardly supposing that those who could, 

 would be at the trouble oi so doing, I will brietiy mention the 

 facts of the case. 



In the summer of 13G3 I purchased a stock of Ligurians in 

 a Woodbury hive. In the autumn of that year, finding that it 

 was queenless, and that the bees had almost dwindled away, a 

 driven swarm was added. In the spring of 1864 I found four 

 of the combs c>)vered over with mould, and removed them. 

 During the summer tiie liive dragged on a miserable existence. 

 The bees increased in numbers, but seemed dispirited, and 

 neither swarmed nor yitUded me any surplus honey. So un- 

 suspicious was I, however, of anything seriously wrong, that I I 

 placed a fine Ligurian .'iv>nrm. in May, side by side in the same 

 sliod. Xot till September d;d 1 overhaul the combs, and then 1 

 fouuil large ma.sses of foul brood in nine out of the ten frames, 

 and unfortunately the nj;oining »warm had caught the infection, 

 though it only ex-.sted in a few scattered cells. I aftei'wards 

 found that a neighboiu-'s hi* e, a swarm from a perfectly healthy 

 stock, was also infected, doubtless from the bees robbing mine, 

 which they had bean seen to do. 



Mr. 'Woodbiiry, to whom I sent a samjlc of the mb, pro- 



souoood tho diseaBe .to be of a very vjriileut type, and ad- 

 vised the destruction of both the infected colonics, i'or reasons 

 then given, I resolved, however, to attempt a cure, and first 

 securing tho queens of each of the hives, drove and united tho 

 bees. Aflcr keeping them iu quarantine for six days (giviDg 

 them the best queen, a well-marked Ligurian, ou tho fifth 

 day) they were put into a common straw hive full of comb, 

 winch was entirely free from brood, and had a suliicieut supply 

 of food. I thou took them to a friend's garden two miles oB 

 for the winter. 



During tho cold weather many bees died. I twice cleared 

 from tho bottom board ;i thick covering of dead bees, so that 

 when the hive was brought home in the spring, there was a 

 mere handful loft clustered in two end combs, and many of the 

 other combs were a good deal mouldy. I at once began to 

 stimulate them, by giving about au ounce of syrup every night 

 regidarly for several weeks, and they rapidly increased, swaiTued 

 ou June (ith, and cast on the 13!h. Shortly afterwards I drove 

 the remaining bees and united them to tlie cast. I then cut 

 out tho combs fi-om the hive, very minutely examined them all, 

 and am glad to say that there was not tiJo least trace of the 

 disease. 1 have also examined the swarm and ca-it, which are, 

 I believe, perfectly healthy, they are strong stocks, and have 

 each yielded me surplus honey. 



I think this experiment has proved that tho cure of foul 

 brood so late as October is po--sible. I am not sure that it is 

 commercially profitable to attempt to do so. In the case of 

 common bees, at least, I should think to destroy woidd he safer 

 and cheaper. My neighbour whc-iu hive was infected adopted 

 this course. I trust we may both escape a return of this very 

 unwelcome visitor to our apiaries. — C. D. 



BEE-KEEPING IN nALLAMSIIIKE. 

 A siTTi.wioN only just on the outskirts of the City of Soot, as 

 some persons, more jocosely than respectfully, cliocse to de- 

 signate the metropolis of cutlery, may be sujiposed to offer but 

 small prospect of successful bee-keeping, and many would pro- 

 bably regard the attempt as a ridiculous and sohiewhat cruel 

 hobby. So tlirce apiarians, living within the sound of SheDield 

 parish church bells, send you a few results of the past season 

 to show that tinder great disadvantages bee-keeping may he 

 both pleasurable and profitable : — 



SATISFACTORY IIAI'VEST — EXTEAOKDINARV VIEGIX SW.UIU. 



Commenced the seastui with three stocks : 



A, a plain box, intended for sujiering, very weal; in numbers, 

 and rather short of food. I'rom March 1st to May 17th gave 

 IJ oz. of syrup every evening. Swarmed June 22nd — 5 lbs. 

 12 ozs. weight, which I sold, and July 11th took from the 

 stock three bell-glasses containing 11 lbs. of honey. 



B, a set managed on the collateral Kystem, moderately 

 strong, and fairly supplied with food. From March 1st to 

 May Sth gave 1 oz. of syrup each evening. Svi'armed 

 May 22nd — weight 5 lbs., and, Jidy 28th, took away a side 

 box containing 16 lbs. 5 ozs. of honey. This swann was put 

 into a frame-box, and, July 2nd, I took from them a well-filled 

 super of 23 lbs. nett, and, July 22ud, a second super containing 

 11 lbs. 8 ozs. of honey. 



C, a good stock, strong, and well stored in a collateral set of 

 boxes, and not encouraged by spring feeding. This stock 

 swarmed May 20th, weighing 5 lbs. 9 ozs., was put into a Wood- 

 bury frame-box, and gave a cast June 3rd — 2 lbs. 1 oz., which 

 was put into a flat-top])ed straw hive. The swarm yielded me 

 July 3rd, three bars of honey from the super — 11 lbs. 3 ozs., 

 and, July 2Sth, 11 lbs. more ; and, on the 7th July, it sent out 

 a virgin swarm, weighing S lbs. 9i ozs., a fact which I could 

 not have believed if I had not, besides weighing the swiu'm my- 

 self, had two intelligent witnesses, and I am sure it was not a 

 union of swarms, for I saw the whole process from the begin- 

 ing, and did not leave them till I had shaken the swarm from the 

 groaning branch of an apple tree into a large straw hive. The 

 cast iu'os])ered well, and, besides tilling their straw home, gave 

 me 2 lbs. 2 ozs. of honey in a small topping. 



I have thus had fom- swarms (two of which I sold imme- 

 diately, the extraordinary virgin swann being one of them) 

 and one east — that is, 26 lbs. 15 ozs. of bees, and have taken 

 91 lbs. 2 ozs. of pure super and side-box honey, in which there 

 was not a jiarticle of bee-bread, and only in the centre combs 

 of the AVoodbury super any trace of brood. 



Jly six stocks are all well supplied with food of their own 

 gatherii:g, and appear in a prosperous state, except A, which 



