TREATMENT OF BEE DISEASES. ig 
Disposal of the honey.—If there is a considerable quantity of honey 
in the contaminated combs it may be extracted. This honey is not 
safe to feed to bees without boiling, but it is absolutely safe for human 
consumption. If there is a comparatively small quantity it may be 
consumed in the beekeeper’s family, care being taken that none of it 
is placed so that the bees can ever get it. 
To put such honey on the market is contrary to law in some States. 
There is always danger that an emptied receptacle will be thrown 
out where bees can have access to it, thus causing a new outbreak of 
disease. It can be safely used for feeding to bees, provided it is 
diluted with at least an equal volume of water to prevent burning, 
and boiled in a closed vessel for not less than one-half hour, count- 
ing from the time that the diluted honey first boils vigorously. The 
honey will not be sterilized if it is heated in a vessel set inside of 
another containing boiling water. Boiled honey can not be sold as 
honey. It is good only as a food for bees, and even then should 
never be used for winter stores, as it will probably cause dysentery. 
The second shake.—Some beekeepers prefer to shake the bees first 
onto frames containing strips of foundation as above described, and 
in four days to shake the colony a second time onto full sheets of 
foundation, destroying all comb built after the first treatment. 
This insures better combs than the use of strips of foundation, but is 
a severe drain on the strength of the colony. Since it is desirable to 
have combs built on full sheets, the best policy is to replace any ir- 
regular combs with full sheets of foundation or good combs later in 
the season. 
The cost of shaking.—If the treatment just described is given at the 
beginning of a good honey flow, it is practically equivalent to arti- 
ficial swarming and results in an actual increase in the surplus honey, 
especially in the case of comb-honey production. The wax rendered 
from the combs will sell for enough to pay for the foundation used 
if full sheets of foundation are employed. Since a colony so treated 
actually appears to work with greater vigor than a colony not so 
manipulated, the cost of treatment is small. If treatment must be 
given at some other time, so that the colony must be fed, the cost is 
materially increased. In feeding, it is best to use sugar sirup, or 
honey that is known to have come from healthy colonies. 
Treatment with Bee Escape. 
As a substitute for the shaking treatment just described, the bees 
may be removed from their old combs by means of a bee escape. The 
old hive is moved to one side and in its place is set a clean hive with 
clean frames and foundation. The queen is at once transferred to 
the new hive and the field bees fly there on their return from the 
442 
