134 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



clown under the cap on top will pre- 

 vent the escape of gas from that point. 

 Next I got a rubber hose that would 

 nicply slip on over the spout of the 

 can, and connected that with a hole 

 in the paper cover of the can. As the 

 gas is heavier than air it settles to the 

 bottom of the can, and forces the air 

 to rise. For this reason I made a hole 

 in the cover, and when I could detect 

 the odor of the formalin gas I pasted 

 a piece of paper over the opening. 

 To generate the gas, the can of forma- 

 lin can be set upon a gasohne stove, 

 or over .1 lamp, or any way in which 

 to heat the formalin and vaporize it. 

 As soon as I discovered the odor of the 

 gas coming out of tlie can, I stopped 

 up the opening, as I have mentioned, 

 and turned out the light. In an hour 

 or so, T lit the stove again, and burned 

 it until I could smell the gas escap- 

 ing. 



When I used the comb, on- 

 ly a few cells of foul brood 

 developed. Right here I must ex- 

 plain that the formaldehyde was ob- 

 tained of a local druggist who told 

 me thai he bought a 100 per cent solu- 

 tion and then reduced it to a 40 i)er 

 cent solution, and tliat that was wb.at 

 he had sold me. Later I went to AV. 

 M. Kirchmaire «fc Co., of Toledo, 0.,and 

 they told me that a 40 per cent solu- 

 tion was the strongest that could be 

 made. In other words, the liquid will 

 absorb only 40 per cent of the formal- 

 in. This local druggist had been buy- 

 ing a 40 per cent solution and then 

 reducing it more than one-half, hence 

 I had been using a vei*y weak solution. 

 I may say, however, that I was even- 

 tually successful in destroying foul 

 brood with this weak solution by fil- 

 ing up the can with gas, as above 

 described, then setting the oil can 

 over a common lamp and allowing it 

 to remain there for 12 hours. WHien 

 I found that it could be made a suc- 



cess, either by using a 40 per cent 

 solution, or by keeping the lamp going 

 for a long time Avith the weak solu- 

 tion, 1 determined to take up the mat- 

 ter on a larger scale, so I made a 

 tank, out of galvanized iron, capable 

 of holding 4o ten-frame supers of the 

 Ijangstroth size. The tank is 42 inches 

 wide, by the same in height, and sl'V- 

 en feet long. The upper edge is 

 strengthened and held in place by 

 strii)s of oak sawed from a two-inch 

 plank. Along the sides of the tank 

 these strips Avere placed on the out- 

 side, and at the ends they Avere placed 

 inside the tank. The strips of oak 

 Avere held in place by nails driven 

 through the iron (after some holes 

 had been bored) and the edge of each 

 strip that came next to the metal was 

 covered Avith Avhite lead before the 

 strip AA'as nailed on. 



The cover is made of matched hem- 

 lock nailed to six bassAvood cleats; 

 one cleat at each end and the others 

 equally distant apart. The cover Avas 

 given a good coat of lead and oil on 

 the inside, and while the paint Avas 

 still green it AA^as coA'ered with heavy 

 paper, then another coat of paint witi. 

 a sheet of cloth over that covered 

 with paint. The cover is held in place 

 by bolts that pass through the cleats 

 doAA'n through the rim attached to 

 the top of the box. In the cover, at 

 the opposite end from AA'here the gas 

 enters, is bored a 5-8 hole Avhich is 

 kept stopped Avith a plug, except when 

 the tank is filling Avith gas. As soon 

 as the gas can be smelled escaping 

 the plug is put in place and the blaze 

 tiu'ued out; or it might be well to 

 turn the blaze down very low. oi- eNr 

 set the can OA'er a lamp and keep it 

 going for six or eight hours longer, 

 and thus be sure of keeping the tank 

 full of gas. As I did not care to use 

 the combs at once. I left them in the 

 box eight or ten days. To sech.re fou' 



