1890 



GLtiANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



629 



gets no surplus. He turns a snuill box over the 

 hives for the surphis. and luis a small hole 

 through the top of the hive for the bees to pass 

 to it. but the tenii)erature then^ is so low that 

 the b(>es do not even go into it to r(>st. He had 

 tliree large swarms come out nearly all at once, 

 and tiiey all clustered together. After hanging 

 about half an hour they took' Fn^ich leave, and 

 went into a hollow scrub oak in tiie ravine near 

 his house. He told my liusband, about two 

 weeks after they had swarmed, that he might 

 have them for J^l.OO. as he did not know how to 

 get them out. So we went at once, and my 

 liusband cut down the tree and split open the 

 trunk, which was about a foot in diameter, and 

 ten feet long, and all hollow. They had about 

 15 lbs. of lovely honey. I took out some of the 

 comb, and all the brood; and having a Simplic- 

 ity hive at hand we fastened all in. took it 

 home, put a 30-lb. surplus box on top (without 

 any bottom to it), putting starters of foun- 

 dation in top. and in about three weeks it was 

 tilled with white basswood honey. I took it off 

 and put another on, which they again filled. 

 So you see our dollar was W(>11 invested. 



I winter my bees in the basement of our barn. 

 We liad one end partitioned oft' for them, where 

 it is dark and quiet. The temperature is ap- 

 parently about right for them. I put chaff 

 cushions on toj). I sold a colony this spring for 

 just \\hat I paid for them — ^G.OO. 



Clark's smoker works all right, but I seldom 

 nse smoke in opening hives at this time of the 

 honey season, for the bees pay no attention to 

 me. It does not take to exceed ten minutes to 

 move the frames from one hive to another, for 

 I ke(>p my hives perpt'iidicular, and the combs 

 very seldom require any attention in straight- 

 ening. 



I do think that bee culture is a delightful oc- 

 cupation for any one. It is not too laborious 

 for a lady: besides it is such a pleasing study, 

 and the returns are very large in comparison to 

 the outlay. 



I began with two colonies two years ago. 

 They were in old boxes when I got them, so I 

 just let them swarm (got 3 swarms), and sold 

 the old coliinies for what I gave for them. So 

 you see I am considerably ahead. 



Mks. a. C. Monaghan. 



Gary. South Dakota. July 1. 



CLEANSING FOUL-BROODY HIVES, ETC. 



FlUENI) DOOI.ITTI.E TKLLS HIS OPINION AND 

 KXPVAUKyiCK. 



A correspondent writes: "I have had foul 

 brood in my apiary, and, as far as I know, I 

 have eradicated it by the j)laii given by the late 

 M. Quinby, which is similar to that recom- 

 mended by D. A. Jones, of C'anada. The bees 

 were all placed in new hives, and now I want 

 to know what to do with the old ones, so that I 

 can use them again another year, for I do not 

 feel abl(( to lose them." 



In replying, I beg leave to answer this ques- 

 tion through (Ji.KANiNGs, as such answer may 

 be of use to some of the I'caders besides the cor- 

 resjjondent. The plan I used on the most of 

 my hives, when I had foul brood during the 

 seventies, was to scald the liivc^ by plunging it 

 all over in boiling water, in a large kettle which 

 was used on the farm for cooking food for the 

 hogs, heating water for butcliering, etc. The 

 hives were put in first and scalded, and after- 

 ward the frames of coml)S, thus scalding the 

 frames and making the combs into wax at the 

 same time: for as I made all of my frames by 

 hand then, I thought I must save them. How- 

 ever, in these days of machinery I do not think 



that it would pay to bother with the frames, 

 for this scalding" iH'ocess makes them untrue 

 and in poor shape for use again, so that new 

 fram(>s are much the cheaper in the long run. 

 Later on, a bee-keeper living several miles 

 away calhnl me to his apiary to see if he had 

 foul' brood. 1 found it in seVeral of his hives, 

 and told him how to treat it. After he had 

 cured it he scalded the hives by pouring water 

 from a boiling tea-kettle on to the inside of the 

 infected hives, and no foul brood was the result 

 afterward. If you are sure that the hot water 

 hits every nook and corner of the hive, I do not 

 know why this plan \\()\ild not answer where 

 nothing holding boiling water is at hand large 

 enough to i)ut the whole hive in. The first 

 would be the safest, however. Some claim that 

 the hives do not lu^ed scalding or doing any 

 thing else with them, if they are allowed to 

 stand outdoors exposed to the weather through 

 one winter. Tlu-y say they believe that the 

 freezing and thawing of one winter is amply 

 sufficient to destroy all the spores or germs of 

 foul brood about "any hive. I should be in- 

 clined to go slow on this, trying only one or two 

 till I had proved for myself that there was no 

 danger from such hives. 



While I am on this subject of foul brood I 

 wish to esi)(>cially emphasize what has been 

 latelv said in our" bee-papers against sending 

 samples of supposed foul brood to different bee- 

 beepers for their judgment in the matter. Only 

 lately I received such a sample, which might 

 have worked me untold injury, if not some one 

 else near the postotfice. IJeing very busy that 

 dav I did not go for my mail till late at night; 

 and as a friend brought out the mail for me it 

 was placed in the buggy without much thought, 

 save to take it home. 1 came near leaving the 

 mail in the barn with the buggy, but finally 

 thought to take it to the house. In taking it out 

 in the dark, I felt a package in a dilapidated 

 condition; but not wishing to strike a light it 

 was left on the table till morning. Imagine 

 mv feelings when I found, the next morning, a 

 pa"ckage of toi-n and soiled paper, saturated 

 through in places with thin honey and mashed 

 brood, giving off a scent while being undone 

 which told me at once what it was. I was not 

 long in consigning it to the fire and thoroughly 

 washing everv place where it had touched. As 

 it was a time "of scarcity, if I had left it in the 

 barn, as I came near doing, in all probability 

 the bees would have found it before I went out 

 to feed the horse, as I do not feed him early, 

 feeding but twice a day. Then the postoflice 

 window is near where the mail is distributed, 

 where again a neighbor's bees, who lives in the 

 village, were exposed to this same contagion. 

 Now, friends, whoever reads this, don't do such 

 a thing as to send foul brood in the mails as 

 samples, for by doing so you are liable to expose 

 your brother to the same ills which you are so 

 anxious to be rid of yourself. The books of the 

 present day are sufficiently explicit in describ- 

 ing this disease, so you should be able to tell it 

 yourselves without" a reasonable doubt, with 

 this additional test: Whenever you find some- 

 thing which you think is wrong about the brood 

 in any hive iii your yard, the first thing you are 

 to dois to close' that hiv(^ as quickly as possible, 

 so that there will be no chance for other bees to 

 get at the honey, and go and wash your hands 

 and all else which you have used about the 

 hive. This examination will tell you whether 

 the bees are strong enough to rei)el robbers; 

 and if so, the entrance should l)e contracted so 

 you are sure no robbing can occur. Now leave 

 the hive entirely alone till near niglit some day, 

 about ten days from that tinu'; and after the 

 other bees an^ done flying, open it and examine 

 it closely, washing your hands, etc., as before. 



