596 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



Friend 11., like yourself I was greatly in- 

 terested in the strange places that bees 

 choose for homes in California. When I 

 was there we found them in holes in the 

 ground, in the dirt, and in the side of a 

 bank ; and one friend with whom I stopped 

 was in the habit of getting a slice of honey 

 for his dinner out of a hole in the rocks. As 

 fast as he broke off the chunks they built 

 more comb and put in more honey. It does 

 me good to know that you find enjoyment 

 just as I do, in studying God's works off 

 alone by yourself. I like the great cities 

 once in a while, with their crowds of hu- 

 man beings ; but I very soon long for the 

 quiet of my creek-bottom garden, with its 

 beautiful little spring, and strawberry- 

 plants with their vigorous runners ready to 

 be trained (and almost taught what to do) 

 by my hand. The very thought of it is rest- 

 ful to me ; and if it were not for these en- 

 joyments, and the restful feeling that comes 

 to me, I do not know how I should ever 

 bear my daily burdens and responsibilities. 

 The man whose life is too full of business 

 to give him time to study his Bible and to 

 become acquainted with his God through 

 God's vv'orks is to be pitied. I, too, poked 

 down figs and English walnuts with a long 

 stick. But that was in December, and you 

 talk about figs in July. Truly one must 

 visit California to get the hang of the many 

 things that are so queer and strange. 



FOUL BROOD. 



THE FORMIC-ACID TREATMENT; THE SAI.ICYLIC- 



ACID TREATMENT GENERALLY REGARDED 



AS A FAILURE. 



Mi: Root .•—As far back as 188'2 I treated foul brood 

 successfully with formic acid, being, as I believe, 

 the first bee-keeper to use it for this purpose. At 

 that time I had just succeeded in getting- my apiary 

 into a healthy state after a struggle of several 

 years' duration with a most virulent form of foul 

 brood. As I happened to have only a single foul- 

 broody comb whereon to experiment with the 

 formic acid, I did not feel justified in speaking or 

 writing of it as a remedy for this destructive disease. 

 However, in 1887 foul brood was reintroduced into 

 my apiary from a neighbor's (in which it had been 

 and is still rampant); and as I had a favorable op- 

 portunity of giving my new remedy a trial, no time 

 was lost about it. 



My first proceeding was to mix two teaspoonfuls 

 of formic acid in a quart of syrup; the syrup thus 

 acidulated was dropped on or into all brood-cells, 

 whether diseased or healthy, twice a week.^until the 

 middle of June, when honey-storing begins in this 

 district. An undesirable result of this rough-and- 

 ready treatment was, that the smaller larvte were 

 floated out of the cells, and the loss in this way was 

 very considerable; but every hive became healthy. 

 To make matters sure, 1 fed all my bees in the 

 autumn with acidulated syrup, the proportion of 

 acid to each quart of syrup being doubled, or four 

 teaspoonfuls to the quart. Although the acid fla- 

 vor was very strong, the bees took it readily; and 

 in the warm eveninjis, when the bees were hard at 

 work fanning at the hive-entrances, the smell of 

 the acid was ver.\ perceptib'e: and so far I can safe- 



ly say iin apiary was never cleared of foul brood 

 without destroying a bee, frame, or quilt, in as 

 short a time as in this case. I may add that a friend 

 who keeps a dozen frame hives eradicated foul 

 brood by the same treatment. 



In regard to the trouble of using formic acid as I 

 have described, and also the resulting loss of brood, 

 it occurred to me to try it by pouring it into one 

 side of a clean empty comb, which was then placed 

 in the hive as far as possible from the entrance, 

 and this plan of using it has proved so successful 

 that I question whether any thing better can be 

 devised. When useda in this way, with a strong 

 stock and warm weather, the evaporation of the 

 acid is so rapid that the fumes, on removing the 

 quilt, "take one's breath away" for the moment, 

 but the bees don't seem to mind this in the least, as 

 they cluster on and Htore honey in the comb con- 

 taining the acid. The first thing which will strike 

 the experienced bee-keeper on opening a hive in 

 this condition is, that the offensive odor peculiar to 

 foul brood has passed off; and if he examines the 

 once foul-broody combs he will find that the bees 

 have cleared out all the putrid matter, and that all 

 the brood is in a condition of perfect health. A 

 second application of the acid in this way will in 

 most cases suffice to get a hive clear of foul brood. 

 Asa remedy for foul brood I do not think any 

 thing in the British Pharmacop<eia is comparable 

 to formic acid; and those who have vainly tried 

 salicylic acid will do well to give it a trial. Curious 

 to say, although the latter has been pronounced a 

 failure by every Intelligent bee-keeper who has 

 tried it, it is still mentioned as a remedy in some of 

 the beebooks published in England. For myself, 

 judging from its high evaporating point and com- 

 parative insolubility, I do not and never did believe 

 it possible to cure foul brood with it. On the other 

 hand, formic acid evaporates rapidly at ordinary 

 atmospheric temperatures, and so it is brought into 

 the closest possible contact with every part of the 

 interior of the hive and every part of every cell, 

 grub, and bee, it contains. Having no offensive 

 odor, it can be used while honey is being stored, 

 without the slightest fear of tainting it; and, al- 

 though last, not least, it is not expensive, a bottle 

 containing 1 lb. costing about two shillings and nine 

 pence, or less than 75 cents in American money. 



The formic acid I use is known chemically as a 10- 

 per-cent solution of anhydrous formic acid, and its 

 specific gravity is 1.C6. Bee-keepers should be care- 

 ful about this, because absolute formic acid la not 

 only expensive, but it is very dangerous to handle, 

 the least drop of it causing very painful ulcerous 

 sores. In fact, any solution stronger than that giv- 

 en above is undesirable, as it has a solvent action 

 on the beeswax in the combs, although, strange to 

 say. It does not affect parafHne wax. 



Foul brood is rapidly becoming a serious pest, 

 both here and in Eogland; acd if its progress is not 

 checked it will certainly put an end to bee-keeping 

 in these countries. This is, in my opinion, largely 

 the fault of the bee-keepers themselves; as, when 

 it makes its appearance, instead of trying for a 

 remedy they regard it with a sort of Mohammedan 

 fatalism, as something against which there is no 

 use in striving. 



In conclusion I wish to point out that, to make an 

 experiment on the lines I have given, will cost very 

 little money, and not more than five minutes' lime; 

 and if the necef-sary conditions (a strong hive and 



