1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



853 



fluids unfler the microscope, when a larg'e number 

 of acti\e b.icilli will lie found. Such liecs leavo Ihe 

 hive t ' (lie, vvliurms ilie inlecled latvge renuiin in 

 tlie cells, unless disinlfCianis to at rot decumposi- 

 tion are used, iu whicu case .he bees remove them 

 from the hives. 



METHOD OF TKEATMEXT. 



The superii>riiy of Ihe modern frame hive over 

 the straw skep is here s.rikinvly a|ip.ir'int. 'I'lie 

 latter was as a sealed bonk tn its owner-, \\ h > hnd no 

 meaas of deieciintr the |ire~eni'e of loiil inood e\- 

 cepi bj' ouiward signs, and tireso. as alrendy poirricd 

 out, aie only mauifesled wlieu the disease is iaits 



riG. 2.— HEALTHY .JUICES. FIG. 3.— EARLY STAGE. 



FIG. 4.— LATER STAGE. 



FIG. 5.— LAST STAGE. 



last and most virulent stage, at wliich time any 

 treatment short of total desiructioa is er tirely 

 hopeli ss. The owner of a movaid.'-frame hive, on 

 the contrary, can. by the faciliiies it attords for ex- 

 amining the comb-i, at orrce delect the disc ise in 

 its earliest stages, and adopt measuies for arresting 

 Its progress or for stamping it out aliogether. Qn- 

 foriunately the dlsaase is seldom noticed on its 

 first appearance; but it has nearly always to be 

 dealt with wiieu more or fewer spores are ali'eady 

 in the hive. 



If, on examining combs to all appearance healthy, 

 with brood compact and larvsE bright and plump, 

 we tlnd iiere and there a cell with yourrg larvae 

 moving uneasily, or extended hori/.rjntally instead 

 Of being curled up, and changing to a pale yellow 



color, we at once detect the first symptoms of foul 

 brood. The further progress of the disease can, at 

 this btage, bo arrested oy feeding 11. e bees with 

 syrup, to which thr>e giams of iiii| hihol beta are 

 added to every pound ot su^ar Used. This is em- 

 ployed by tlie iiuise-oees in pr, par ing f(.od for the 

 lar\ te. We can further assiso the oees by putting 

 napiiihaleire or eucalyptus in tlie hive, i'ue bees 

 tneii usually lemove ihe dead lar\te. 



Apart, liowevir, U\jm experienced bee-keepers or 

 trained experts, very lew are fortunaie enough to 

 detect the disease at such an early stage, or to 

 eUiCi a cure so easily, and it t.ecomes adsisable to 

 desi r ibe the method of procedure in ordinary cases 

 — Lhai is, when iIjc combs have irregular palclies of 

 brood, with sunken and perforaied eappiugs to the 

 cells (Fig 1; couiaiuiug the cottee-coloi ed mass in- 

 side. 



If the colony be weak, destruction of bees, combs, 

 frames, and quilts, together witu thorough disin- 

 fection of hives. IS by lar the best course to pursue. 

 We thus destroy the spores, aud so remove ihe 

 source of infeciimi. Jf, on the contrary, the colony 

 be still strong, the bees may be preserved by adopt- 

 ing the lollovviug meihod: An artitlcial swarm is 

 made of the bees, which are tuen placrd in a straw 

 skepand led on syrup medicated with naphthol beta. 

 The frames, couihs, an<l quilts are then burned. 

 Tue hive is disinfected by Ijeiug either steanud, or 

 scrubb. d with boiling water and soap, and liien 

 painted over with a solution of carbolic acid (one 

 part of Calvert's No. .5 cai-bolic acid lotvvo parts of 

 water), and when the smell has disappeared it will 

 berendv for use. The bees are allowed to remara 

 in the skep for foriy-eight hour.^, by which time the 

 honey tney may have laken with them, nnd whidi 

 might ctaitain spori s, will have been consumed, itnd 

 the diseased bees will have died off. The) are then 

 shaken from the skep into a clean frame live fur- 

 nished Willi six fr.imes, tilled with full sheets of 

 comb foundation, and are fed vvith medicaieil syrup 

 for a few days longer. The skep used as tin ir tem- 

 porary home should be buimd. All such work 

 should be done in the evening, « hen the bees have 

 ceased flying for the day, to avoid chance of robbing. 



[A careful reading of the methoti of treat- 

 ment as above will make it very apparent why 

 we, in our large experience with foul brood, 

 could not effect & perimment cure of the dis- 

 ease by the application of disinfectants in the 

 form of carbolic acid, salicylic acid, and the 

 like. While we could kill the bacilli them- 

 selves with the antiseptics we had no effect on 

 the spores, which would hatch later, and. as a 

 consequence, give rise to the disease again. 

 We found it absolutely necessary to burn the 

 combs, frames, and sometimes the hives, when 

 it was not practicable to Immerse them in boil- 

 ing water. 



Mr. Cowan's statements, based on his investi- 

 gation with one of the best microscopes, agree 

 exactly with our quite extensive experience 

 with foul brood some years ago. 



The starvation plan, in connection with 

 burning the combs and frames, and boiling the 

 hives, has worked best— altogether the best— in 

 treating foul brood. It never re-appeared after 

 such treatment, though it did in all the cases 

 where the hives were not boiled, thus confirm- 

 ing the theory or fact of the spores.— Ed.] 



CRITICISM ON THE CONSTITUTION. 



HOW TIIOS. G. NEWMAN REGARDS THE MATTER. 



To the Officers and Members of the North 

 American Bee-keepers' Associ(itlon:—\.ldv\Dg 

 received a proof of the constitution of the 

 proposed "United States Bee-keepers' Union," 

 kindly sent me for criticism by the genial iSecre- 

 tary. Dr. A. H. Mason, with the reqiicsr, to have 

 it submittej.to the National Bee-keepers' Union 



