Aug. 6, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



503 



them in tho suiokor ; and it is ;ui adilltidiial safeguard to hiivo 

 always at hand a dish containiiif; a weak solution of carbolic 

 acid in whieh to wash tools and hands before manipulating 

 a colony that may prove to be healthy. 



Now, we must go and examine the colony but sli^rhtly 

 affected, for the detection of thedisease in such aono r<'i|uii-es 

 some patience and care. On opening the hive, if we havr a 

 i' good nose," we may, on applying it to tho top of the combs 

 just over the center of the brood-nest, possibly distinguish 

 slightly the characteristic odor of foul brood, but very likely 

 we ma"y not be able to do so. We then remove combs frcim 

 the center of the brood-nest. On a cursory view everything 

 looks prosperous — the colony is strong, the brood is compact 

 and abundant, and of a general normal appearance, and the 

 bees are working energetically. Hut if wo look carefully we 

 may see here and there a cell the capping of which has lost 

 its lively appearance. It is a little too dark, and is slightly 

 flattejied. We must have recourse to our toothpick. One 

 breaks the suspicious capping. Yes, the larva is dead and 

 discolored. The toothpick touches it with a slight turn and 

 is withdrawn, bringing the stringy tell-tale matter with it. 

 Other similar cells are found. There is no question but that 

 it is foul brood. 



UOW TO I'KEVKNT THE DISSEMINATION OF THE DISEASE. 



Now that it is established that foul brood has a foothold 

 in the apiary we must make every effort to prevent its farther 

 dissemination. It might bo asked, Why not do that by cur- 

 ing all the diseased colonies'? The reply is that the periods 

 of time when that can be done quickly and safely are limited, 

 both in number and extent. The temperature must be warm 

 enough for comb-building, and security against robber-bees 

 must be had for the necessary operations, so thatra time of 

 waiting of greater or Jess length is pretty sure to intervene, 

 hence the nejcessity for taking precautionary measures. And 

 first, and most important, is the guarding against robbing. 

 We must make a weak colony secure against the possibility 

 of being attacked. The weak colonies are the ones by far 

 the most likely to be diseased, so we will make sure not only 

 that the entrances are small enough for successful defence, 

 but also that the bees have sufficient spirit to make tho 

 defence. We will sacrifice, without hesitation, any infected 

 colony that will not fight. 



WHAT MAY BE DONE WITH MEDICATED 8YKUP. 



If the character of the time is such that the bees will take 

 syrup, this may be taken advantage of by feeding diseased 

 colonies a quart or two of medicated syrup made by mixing 

 one ounce of salicylic acid in sufficient alcohol to dissolve it, 

 in about 25 quarts of a not too thick syrup or honey. This 

 will be found very helpful ; and we will not omit to avail our- 

 selves of it as fast as the diseased colonies are discovered. I 

 have found that this medicated food stops the spread of the 

 disease in the hive, and, no doubt, on stronger grounds, pre- 

 vents the spread of the contagion to other hives. If the time 

 be early spring, as we find colonies which were badly diseased 

 the previous fall, before giving the food wo will remove from 

 each some of the combs which contain the dead larv;o, and 

 leave the bees only the ones which have few or none. These 

 will prove sufficient until a cure can be effected; and the 

 withdrawing of the combs with the greatest amount of attc^c- 

 tion will be a very decided advantage to the colony. 



UNITING WEAK COLONIES. 



We are now supposed to have critically examined the en- 

 tire apiary, and distinguished each diseased colony by a 

 prominent permanent mark, and to have given each a supply 

 of medicated syrup. We will now keep each supplied with 

 this syrup until the flowers yield fairly well. In attending to 

 this we shall find some of the colonies that are taking but lit- 

 tle or none of the food ; these we will unite either with each 

 other, or with others that are stronger, putting two or more 

 together as rapidly as it can be safely done. I say safily 

 done, because two colonies standing some distance apart 

 among healthy colonies may not be brought close together at 

 one movement, for that would be likely to send some of the 

 bees into healthy colonies. They must be brought togetlier 

 gradually so that all the bees will be brought along. We will 

 make the united colonies strong by putting a sufficient num- 

 ber together to make them so, for weak ones will prove to be 

 of little if any value. 



A CAUTION KEGARDING THE USE OF COMBS FROM COLONIES 

 THAT HAVE DIED. 



There is one other preliminary matter that must be at- 

 tended to, and that is the examination of the combs of colo- 

 nies that have died during the winter. Diseased colonies are 

 particularly liable to perish, and a larger proportion of the 

 dead ones will no doubt be found to be of that class. The 



status of each is to be determined in the same manner that we 

 determined the condition of the colonies examined for foul 

 brood early in tho spring bofoi-e brood-rearing bad made much 

 progress ; that is, by looking for the scale-like remains of the 

 larviv which perished the previous year. 



It will be understood, of course, that all diseased combs, 

 that is, all combs from diseased colonies, bits of comb and 

 honey, must be kept at all times where no prying bee can by 

 any chance get access to them. These are the readiest means 

 of the spread of tho disease. The honey may be extracted 

 from combs, containing sufficient to make it worth while, 

 boiled well for at least 15 minutos, then medicated and used 

 for feeding ; but unless one has conveniences for keeping all 

 combs and honey safe, they should be burned up at once. 

 However, with care, there is no good reason why the wax 

 from the combs, and most of the honey, should not be saved. 

 Every one must consider his own conditions to determine how 

 he can best dispose of them without incurring risk. 



GETTING RID OF THE DISEASE. 



We now come to the final and indispens.^bIe operation for 

 effecting a cure, and that consists simply in transferring the 

 bees from their own combs to hives furnished with frames of 

 foundation or frames with starters. I have not found it 

 necessary to disinfect the hives containing diseased colonies, 

 so, if found more convenient, the combs may be taken out, the 

 bees brushed and shaken in front of the hive, and the hive 

 furnished with frames of foundation. 



AT WHAT SEASON TO DO THE WORK. 



But at what time is this to be done, and what disposal 

 is to be made of the brood ? 



The operation may be successfully performed at any time 

 during warm weather, if only sufficient allowance of time is 

 made to enable the bees to complete their combs before the 

 cool weather of the fall comes on. May, June and July are 

 the best months, and of these about the beginning of the 

 white-clover flow would be the most favorable time of the 

 year for beginning the work. This is so, both because it is 

 the best time for the bees to build up without any care, as 

 well as because it is the time when robber-bees are least likely 

 to be troublesome. 



At this timely season let us go into the apiary with the 

 necessary hives, ready furnished, to undertake the work. We 

 find many that were but slightly diseased strong and almost 

 in condition to cast a natural swarm. Each one of this class 

 is moved a little aside and one of the prepared hives is put in 

 the place of each. Now, from each one take out the combs 

 with the bees and shake the bees off in front of the new hive, 

 making sure that the queen goes with them, until we have a 

 driven swarm, leaving sufficient in the old hive to care for the 

 brood. Now we have a driven swarm from each one, and the 

 old hives with the brood. Within a week or ten days we will 

 see that each of the latter has given it a good young queen, 

 lOr a good ripe queen-cell, and in 21 days we will take away 

 all the old combs and replace them with frames containing 

 foundation or stjrters. This disposes of this class, and will 

 surely effect a cure. It would be more than useless to give 

 them another set of frames and another shaking out. 



THE TREATMENT OF WEAK COLONIES. 



Now we go back to the weaker class. These we will take 

 in pairs. We first select the first pair, set one of them aside 

 and put a new hive in its place and shake out the bees as in 

 the former case, only get about all of the bees and the queen 

 out. Now we put the old hive with the brood in the place of 

 the other one of the pair, and bring that other one and shake 

 out the bees and queen in like manner in front of the new 

 hive, then take back the old hive and unite it with the one 

 already on its stand ; thus getting from the pair one new one 

 with the bees and the two queens, and one united old one with 

 the brood, that will be wanting a queen in a few days, and a 

 new set of frames in three weeks, as in the former case. The 

 rest are to be treated in like manner. 



A good part of the success of this plan is owing to the 

 medicated food given during all the forepart of the season. 

 Without that the colonies would have been in comparatively 

 poor condition, which would have entailed an increase of care 

 and labor. , , ., „ 



The cure may be effected during any part of the three 

 months mentioned, or even in August, but the giving of medi- 

 cated food must be resorted to unless the field is yielding an 

 abundance for comb-building. 



Sometimes the brood from several colonies may be given 

 to a single one, and that one treated later. 



Without feeding during a dearth, absconding is pretty 

 sure to take place.— Bee-Keepers' Review. 



Lapeer Co., Mich. 



