29 
pared for the winter the colonies will need but slight attention from 
October until March, or, in the North, even later, and the losses will 
be limited to the small percentage of cases due to failure of apparently 
good queens. 
THE RISK OF LOSS THROUGH DISEASE AND ENEMIES. 
Winter losses through disease superinduced by unfavorable sur- 
roundings which it is within the power of the bee keeper to avoid have 
already been considered. But one other serious disease has been wide- 
spread. This is a highly contagious affection which, as it mainly affects 
the developing brood in the cells, is commonly known as “foul brood.” 
It is due to a microbe (Bacillus alvet) whose spores are easily trans- 
ported from hive to hive by the bees themselves, by the operator, in 
honey, or in combs changed from one hive to another. Once estab- 
lished in an apiary, it usually spreads, unless speedily and energetically 
checked, until all of the colonies in the neighborhood are ruined and 
even exterminated. The most apparent symptoms are the turning 
black of larvee in open cells, many sealed cells with sunken caps, fre- 
quently broken in and containing dead larvie or pup in a putrid con- 
dition, brown or coffee-colored, jelly-like or ropy in consistency, aud 
giving off an offensive odor. The disease, though known to exist in 
nearly all countries, can hardly be said to be common. ‘The writer, in 
an experience of over thirty years in bee keeping in several States of 
the Union, as well as in a number of foreign countries, has met the dis- 
ease but rarely, and has had but one experience with it in his own 
apiary, it having been in this instance brought in by a neighbor who 
purchased bees at a distance. It was easily cured, without great loss. 
Thus the beginner’s risks of disaster in this direction are, if he be fore- 
warned, comparatively small. He may, furthermore, gain assurance 
from the fact that, should the disease invade his apiary, prompt and 
intelligent action will prevent serious loss. 
The following is the treatment for a colony which still has sufficient 
strength of numbers to be worth saving: The bees are to be shaken 
from their combs just at nightfall into an empty box, which is to be 
removed at once to a cool, dark place. The bees are to be confined to 
the box, but it must be well ventilated through openings covered with 
wire cloth. During the first forty-eight hours no food should be given 
to them, and during the second forty-eight hours only a small amount 
of medicated sirup—a half pint daily for a small colony to a pint for a 
strong one. This food is prepared by adding one part of pure carbolic 
acid or phenol to 600 or 700 parts of sugar sirup or honey. At the end 
of the fourth day the bees are to be shaken into a clean hive supplied 
with starters of comb foundation. This hive is to be placed outside on 
a stand some distance from all other colonies, and moderate feeding 
with medicated sirup or honey should be continued for a few days 
thereafter. The combs and frames taken from the diseased colony at 
