1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



635 



0UR 0WN ^PI^l^Y. 



CONDUCTED BY ERNEST B. ROOT. 



KOITL r.KOOD. 



Tj^ 8 I promised in oiii- last issue, I will 

 ^Mk now j)r(»('('{'(l to i^ive fiii't her facts in 



j^r relation to foul biood; but before do- 

 ■^^ ins wo I nnist i»ri'face a little. 



1 have found it exceediniily dillicult 

 to arrive at any tiling- definite. Certain pet 

 theories, the truth of which I tliou.uht I had 

 or could establish, I had to abandon. Over 

 and over aurain 1 have had to ciumu'e mv 

 mind, until absolute certainty seemed well 

 nijili unattainable. Inferences based ujion 

 insutticient or false data have doiu' not a lit- 

 tle to make our knowledge upon the subject 

 of foul l)rood perplexing- and uncertain. In 

 view of this I have tried to report only such 

 as I felt satisfied at tlie time were facts and 

 not feebly supported theories. For the same 

 reason 1 have hitherto not tJiousht it best 

 to say much concerning' acid treatments 

 whicli I have been trying for the last three 

 or four months. It is with some hesitation 

 that I consent to do so now ; and were it not 

 for the fact that m> present knowledge of 

 carbolic and salicylic acid treatments might 

 render assistance to some brother bee-keep- 

 er experimenting in the same line, I would 

 refrain from making any mention of them 

 until I had fullv satisfied myself as to wheth- 

 er they were effective or not. 



THE CONSIDEUATION OF DIFFERENT 

 METHODS OF CURE. 



Complete extermination by fire, of a dis- 

 eased colony and all its belongings, is effec- 

 tive as far as the cure of the colony itself is con- 

 cerned; but in bm'ning up a colony it is next 

 to impossible to destroy every bee. One, and 

 more proliably a dozen, inmates of the dis- 

 eased hive will get back to its old stand. Of 

 course they will enter the nearest hives and 

 so carry the infection. Aside from this, com- 

 plete extermination is too expensive. 



THE STARVATION PLAN. 



While this method is also effective as far 

 as the cure of the colony iisei/ is concerned 

 (notice the italicized word), yet the disease 

 is spread in much the same way as the first 

 case ; that is. the bees on being put back 

 into entirely different quarters on their old 

 stand will naturally seek to find their old 

 brood-nest in others adjacent to their old 

 stands. 



I have referred to this intermingling of 

 bees once before ; but it is nevertheless a 

 fact, and it has been demonstrated over and 

 over again. In a word, then, my ol)jection 

 to the two plans of treating a colony just 

 mentioned, is, that, while a cure is effected 

 for the colony itself, yet the cure is at the 

 expense of giving the disease to the neigh- 

 boring hives. 



TREATING AVITH CARROLK' ACID. 



Well, then, now to the'point : We want a 

 method of treatment which will not only 

 cure the colony itself, but prevent the spread 

 of the disease to other neighboring hives. 

 With this end in view I have been "experi- 

 menting with salicylic and carbolic acid. 



Our method of administering the acids is 

 somewhat different, I believe, from the 

 methods usually employed. I will fiist 

 speak of carbolic acid. 



Tills, as far as we are able to observe up 

 to this writing, seeins to prevent the spread 

 of the disease to neigliboring colonies ; and 

 we think, when i)roperly administered, it 

 cheeks the disease in the hive itself, and 

 finally cures it. Our method of treatment 

 was only briefly outlined in our last issue. 

 Since then we have modified the plan some- 

 what, and I will therefore recapitulate in 

 part. 



Get a bottle of pure carbolic-acid crystals. 

 Be sure that the latter are white. Your 

 druggist may try to convince you that the 

 yellow are just as pure ; and if he does not 

 have the crystals lie may try to sell you the 

 liquid. Get what you call for or none at all. 

 The bottle which" I got will hold nearly a 

 quart of crystals, and cost 50 cts. This 

 amount wil"! make over a barrel of liquid 

 when reduced for the bees. Having pro- 

 cured the crystals you are to dilute them by 

 weight, avoirdupois. I say avoirdupois, be- 

 cause this will be more convenient. With a 

 pair of accurate scales, weigh out exactly 

 one ounce of crystals. The easiest way to 

 do this is to place the receptacle (a small 

 teacup, for instance) on a pair of scales with 

 which you can take out the tare of the cup. 

 Place the bottle in the sunlight, or near a 

 stove, and let a few of the crystals melt. 

 Now pour into the cup until the" scales show 

 exactly one ounce. The crystals, when 

 melted in the cup, should look a little yel- 

 low and oily. Having done this, weigh oiit 

 500 ounces (3H lbs.) of water. Heat it, and 

 then thoroughly mix the ounce of melted 

 crystals with the water, and allow it to cool. 



After sundown, oi)en your diseased hive 

 and uncap every single brood-cell of all the 

 combs, whether diseased or not, with a wire 

 brush or coarse comb. Be careful not to 

 mutilate the larva? any more than necessary. 

 You must rake the cells open, not strike the 

 brush into them. With a spray-diffuser, 

 spray a fine mist over the bees, brood, and 

 the entire inside of the hive. 



Be careful not to get too much on the bees 

 and brood. By no means drench them, or 

 you will either kill the bees or cause them to 

 leave the combs and cluster on the outside 

 of the hive. The robbers are then pretty 

 sure to take possession and — you know the 

 rest — your labor is for naught; nay, you are 

 a great deal worse off than liefore. 



I have tried yucca brushes to paint the 

 combs and for spraying bees. I have tried 

 using a watering-pot ; but these drench the 

 bees so that theVesnlts are apt to follow as 

 I have described. The only thing that you 

 can use with any degree of success is an at- 

 omizer. In three or four days after the first 

 spraying, spray again, but do not uncap; 

 and so on for a coui)le of weeks. 



To those of >on who can not get an atom- 

 izer, we will furnish you one for spi ayiiig a 

 few colonies, for 75 cts., or 10 cts. extra by 

 mail. 



If you can not get the carbolic-acid crys- 

 tals you call for, write us. We can not state 

 yet what we can furnish it for. 



