1S82 



GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTUKE. 



535 



HO^V TO CX'RE FOUIi BROOD. 



PAPER READ BY D. A. JONES BEFORE THE NATIONAL 

 CONVENTION AT CINCINNATI, OHIO. 



fjjHIS is a subject on which much has been said 

 and written; and there seems to be a great 

 — many and varied ways of curing it; some of 

 them, however, are rather dilBcult, and not within 

 the reach of every bee-keeper, as well as being 

 slightly costly. 



I purpose setting forth in the following the most 

 easy and cheap, as well as the surest method that 

 has as yet come under my notice, and one that 

 comes within the reach of every apiarian on howev- 

 er large or small a scale. This mode of procedure 

 (by starving) has never yet failed when properly 

 carried out, and I have tried it in many cases in our 

 country. 



I shall give the process, first where there is no 

 brood or where one does not care to save it; and 

 secondly, where there ^^■ brood in the hive, and one 

 is desirous of saving it. First, smoke and drum the 

 bees until they have all gorged themselves with 

 honej'; and it is important that they be all well 

 filled, otherwise that portion of them whose sacks 

 are not full will not live the time that the other por- 

 tion would be required to starve, to effect the cure; 

 hence the necessity of having their sacks filled 

 evenly. They should not be allowed to settle down 

 again after having gorged themselves; the opera- 

 tions when once commenced should be carried 

 through without the loss of any time, as a short 

 space only would require to elapse, if left quiet, be- 

 fore some of them would replace their honey in the 

 cells again, when the work of smoking, etc., would 

 have to be repeated. After they have been smoked 

 and drummed sufficiently, shake the bees into a 

 clean hive or box, over which place a wire-cloth 

 cover, caie being taken that none escape, as one bee 

 escaping and entering another hive would, in all 

 probability, spread the disease, as it is by the depos- 

 iting of the diseased honey in the cells of clean col- 

 onies that this disease is generally contracted. To 

 prevent the spreading of the disease, the operations 

 should be performed either early ;in the morning or 

 late in the evening, when no bees are flying; or if 

 the work is done during the day, it should be be- 

 neath. a wire tent, or in some other place of confine- 

 ment, where there is no chance of any of the bees 

 from the affected colony escaping. These precau- 

 tions are required only where a portion of the yard 

 is diseased; but where the whole apiary is attacked, 

 the work may be carried on with impunity. When 

 the bees have been secured in the hive or box cov- 

 ered by the wire cloth, carry it to a cool, dark place, 

 and there lay it on its side; and why? First, because 

 when in a dark cool place the bees will cluster and 

 remain more quiet than when subjected to light and 

 heat; and secondly, when clustering it is alwa3's at 

 the top of the hive; and were the hive or box to be 

 placed on its proper bottom they would all cluster 

 on the wire cloth, and thus prevent a proper venti- 

 lation, which would cause suffocation ; whereas, by 

 placing the hive or box on its side, the other side 

 would then become the top; and on this the bees 

 would cluster, thus securing a free ^circulation of 

 air. The temperature of the place where the starv- 

 ing takes place should be from 50° to 55°, never above 

 60°, and a cellar would therefore be the best place in 

 hot weather. They should then be left alone, per- 



fectly quiet, from 80 to 120 hours, or until the bees 

 are noticed crawling around the bottom of the box 

 or hive in a starving condition, and a few of them 

 are dead; then put them in a clean hive with clean 

 comb or foundation; if comb, there should be hon- 

 ey in it, and if there is not, the bees should be fed 

 honey or sugar syrup, as also should they be fed 

 when foundation is used, ami remove them to a 

 place one or two miles distant, where let thom re- 

 main uutil the whole yard is cleansed, when they 

 may be returned to their original stands in the old 

 yard. While the bees are starving, scald the hives 

 and frames from which the aU'ected colonies have 

 been taken; extract the honey from the combs, 

 which may be boiled and fed back to them again; 

 render the combs into wax; and the wax, manufac- 

 ture into foundation, and place it in the scalded 

 fi-ames, for use in the scalded hive, into which put 

 the bees, after their allotted time of starving has 

 expired. 



Great caution should be exercised to see that the 

 queen is placed in the hive or box in which the bees 

 are to starve, unless in the case where the stock has 

 been queenless some days previous, when they will 

 do almost as well without one. 



Now, in the second case, where one desires to save 

 the brood, proceed as in the former instance, with 

 the smoking and drumming and transferring of the 

 bees and queen to the hive or box for starvation, 

 only sufficient being left in the diseased hive to 

 nurse the brood. With those placed in the clean 

 hive or box, the operations will be the same as here- 

 tofore described. The remaining brood and bees, if 

 weak, should then be doubled up and otherwise 

 strengthened as much as possible; and when 

 hatched out, put through the same process as the 

 others. This method, it properly carried out, will 

 invariably prove successful. It was my intention to 

 have referred to the various causes of the disease; 

 but I find that my paper is already sufficiently 

 lengthy. I will therefore defer it at this time. Be- 

 fore closing, I may say that, by referring to page 103 

 of the American Bee Jaunial for 1883, in its issue of 

 Feb. 15, some further explanations may be found 

 regarding this method of curing foul brood hystarv- 

 ation. 



DO BEES CHANGE THE SEX OF EGGS? 



MAGNA EST VERITAS, ET PREVALEBIT. 



fpi AM afraid if there isn't more substantial argu- 

 Jljl ment produced " pretty quick already" on the 

 negative side of the question, it will be decided 

 in the affirmative by the facts which are accumu- 

 lating very rapidly. It is pretty clearly proven that 

 a change is made. Now, the next thing in order is 

 to find out when and how it is done. Who can tell 

 whether this change takes place in the egg or the 

 larva? Wouldn't it be as reasonable to suppose the 

 bees could give the egg or larva something in the 

 shape of food to destroy the female germ, as it would 

 to suppose that this germ is sometimes destroyed by 

 chilling while yet in the queen's possession, thereby 

 rendering her a drone-layer? 



It is a good thing that we have able men on both 

 sides, which enables us to arrive at correct conclu- 

 sions long before we would if we were all on the 

 same side. If you think you arc right, stick to it 

 until you find you are wrong, and then give it up. 



