170 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



April 



fore or after the tionej' season); build out their fdn., 

 fill the cells with eggs and stores fi'om above them; 

 and if the colony was a strong one, they will soon be 

 in a prosperous condition once more. It appears 

 that their eating the medicated honey, and coming 

 in contact with it when storing it in their new cells, 

 disinfects the bodies of the bees, and effects the 

 cure. I have tried this so many times, and with 

 such marked success, that I recommend the above 

 process as a sure cure of foul brood. 



When an apiary is infected, bees will pull out part- 

 ly decayed larva?, and, dropping them unywhci-e, are 

 alwaj's apt to ri'infect thereby one or the other col- 

 ony. Spores will be thrown out by the dead larviE 

 on the ground; and if a bee happens to alight on it, 

 she will take the disease home to her hive. A board 

 or plank, over which the bees of an infected colony 

 run, will be infected with the spores of the disease 

 hidden in cracks, and between fissures of the wood. 

 As the bees dropped them when infected, so they 

 are apt to take those spores homo again on their 

 feet, and reinfect their hive. 



The greatest care, therefore, is necessary to disin- 

 fect thoroughly cvcrjMnfected hive and all its sur- 

 roundings. You will readily observe that you can 

 never tell with certainty when you have seen the 

 last of foul brood after it has once made its appear- 

 ance in your apiary, unless you discover it in its 

 first stages, are well posted, and govern yourself ac- 

 cordingly. Let us, therefore, be prompt when it 

 turns up, and profit by the experience of others. 



Dr. Schoenfeld discovered, first, by microscopic ob- 

 servations, the true nature of foul brood; that it is 

 of vegetable growth (like mold), and will be de- 

 stroyed by salicylic acid, which is comparatively 

 harmless to animal life, and even to the life of the 

 larva of a bee. He keeps his salicylic acid dissolved 

 with alcohol; and in order to keep it soluble, ap- 

 plies it lukewarm. The honor of having cured the 

 first hive of bees of foul brood is due to Mr. Emil 

 Hilbert,oneof our most enthusiastic German bee- 

 keepers, whose skillful management and persever- 

 ance I have admired in more instances than the cure 

 of foul brood. He gave us, also, the proper propor- 

 tions of the medicine, and the manner of its ajiplica- 

 tion. 



My apiary being infected at the time when Dr. 

 Schcenfeld and Mr. Hilbert made their discoveries, I 

 read carefully every article as it appeared in our 

 German bee journals, and I made use of their ex- 

 periments. Their experience as to the nature of 

 foul brood is fully substantiated by my own experi- 

 ence, and, after several years of hard labor, I have, 

 by the aid of my druggist, who ranks high as a chem- 

 ist, simplified Mr. Hubert's remedy by substituting 

 borax for alcohol. By this means, salicylic acid is 

 not only kept soluble, but is also ready for use cold, 

 as well as warm. This is not a small advantage, as 

 those will find who test both methods as I have done. 

 An overdose of salicylic acid and borax will kill lar- 

 vn? just as an overdose of salicylic acid and alcohol 

 will, only it lakes less of the latter than of the for- 

 mer to do the mischief. 



I inclose my little pamphlet, "Practical Hints." 

 On page 21 you will find my treatise on foul brood, 

 which please make use of if you think proper. 

 Other business is so pressing with me at this season 

 of the year, that it is really a sacrifice for me to 

 write an article of this sort. CnAg. P. Muth. 



Ciaclqnatl, O., March 9, 188?, 



HOW SII.VL.I. WE PtT ON OUR SECTION 

 BOXES ? 



AND now SHALL WE HANDLE THEM FOB A LARGE 

 YIELD? 



M FTER reading Gleanings from the first num- 

 J(^\,_ ber, 1 was led, in the spring of 1877, to adopt 

 ' the standard Langstroth hive, with 7-inch cap 

 and portico, and the followmg method of producing 

 comb honey, which I should like to present to the 

 readers of Gleanings, in competition with the 

 Deane and other systems, and would invito criti- 

 cism. 



The case which I use is similar to the one described 

 on page 19, January price list, and which you seem 

 to have given the " cold shoulder," as you do not 

 now keep it in stock. I use tin separators, and glass 

 the sections. The case is rabbeted so as to let the 

 top-bar of frame }i inch below the top. The top-bar 

 of frames is same width as bottom-bar, so as to ad- 

 mit free passage of bees when two or more tiers are 

 on. The whole is covered with a quilt. The bottom 

 of frames is even with bottom of case, so there is 

 a space between each tier of H inch, which is enough 

 to prevent crushing the bees when tiering up. I see 

 you do not approve of such space. I think in prac- 

 tice it is no detriment; and as bottom-bars are al- 

 ways covered with wax, it serves as a ladder for bees 

 to climb to upper tier. With the Deane system of 

 tiering up, it seems that the wax on bottom-bars is 

 so much in the way that one tier will not sit tightly 

 above another, and the tops of under boxes will get 

 soiled, besides crushing bees; and honej% sent to 

 market as it comes from the hive, does not suit the 

 tastes of customers in this vioinity as well as glassed 

 sections and prize crates. 1 think all will agree that 

 my method has advantages over Simplicity in the 

 following particulars: First, in beginning of sea- 

 son, or when stock is not strong enough, I can put 

 on one tier of 27 boxes, and raise that up and put 

 under an empty one when needed, while with the 

 Simplicity, 50 have to be put on at once, and bees 

 will nearly finish lower tier before going into upper, 

 if at all. And again, one frame of 3 boxes is more 

 rapidly handled than a frame of 8. In tiering up, I 

 have a ring to put on hive, same dimensions as cap 

 and width of the case, one for each case. I have had 

 4 tiers on at once, and have taken 240 lbs. of white 

 honey from one hive. 



I call the above my method, but do not claim it as 

 my invention exclusively, as others may be using 

 the same thing; but after using it five seasons, and 

 trying other methods, including prize rack, I have 

 no desire to change. I should like to add, that I 

 think, for all purposes, the L. hive, with portico and 

 7-inch cap, has not been improved upon. 



LeRoy, N. Y., March 18, 1883. W. C. Gillette. 



At first sight, a little frame to hold one' 

 tier of sections does seem to be very nice and 

 convenient ; but we should bear in mind 

 that this frame occupies needless room right 

 over the brood-nest, and it also incurs a 

 rather heavy and useless expense, over a 

 case such as we use. The ground lias been 

 well gone over in the past ten years, and 

 any who choose may figure out the extra 

 expense of these small frames, for them- 

 selves. Where you can put eight sections in 

 a frame, instead of three ox four, the expense 

 is very much lessened, and we therefore use 



