536 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOLHI^AC. 



Aug. 20, 1903. 



goes without any apparent cause, and without strictly fol- 

 lowing any rules. Colonies in perfect health will sometimes 

 be attacked suddenly, and in a very short time be reduced 

 to a nucleus. At other times a diseased colony will suddenly 

 recover without any known cause. For this reason no rule 

 can be made by experiments with any one or even a few 

 colonies. And now, after a personal experience with over 

 200 diseased colonies, I more than ever realize how little we 

 really know of the nature, causes, prevention, or of the dis- 

 ease. While I am satisfied that it is to a limited extent 

 contagious, I do not know exactly how the contagion is 

 communicated. 



While in Washington, just after the Philadelphia con- 

 vention, Mr. Benton introduced me to Dr. Howard, United 

 States Entomologist, and I had a short talk with him about 

 his Division making a scientific investigation of the dis- 

 ease. He asked me to call on him in his office and talk the 

 matter over ; but when I did so he was out. I was disap- 

 pointed, as I hoped, through him, to get some real, definite 

 knowledge of the disease and how to fight it. I still hope 

 that some practical scientist will do this work for us. 



I have not yet learned how the contagion, if any, is 

 communicated, but I think through dead or diseased bees 

 only. Last season I made some experiments to learn 

 whether combs, honey or brood carried it, by taking away 

 all the brood from what diseased colonies I had and giving 

 them to certain nuclei. I built up six nuclei by giving them 

 brood from diseased colonies, and so far (nearly a year 

 afterwards) only one of these six colonies has shown any 

 signs of the disease. 



As several other colonies have taken the disease this 

 spring, it is not very likely that this one took it because of 

 these combs of brood and honey. That five out of six failed 

 to take the disease after nearly a year has passed looks as 

 if it will be safe to use all combs of either honey or brood. 

 This simplifies the problem of what to do with diseased 

 colonies, and save the loss of combs and brood, as in the 

 cases of foul brood. 



Several years ago nearly or quite one-third of my apiary 

 was diseased, and the prospect was that I might have to 

 abandon bee-keeping because of it, after nearly half of the 

 diseased colonies had died. Experimenting with all the 

 methods of cure I could hear of, and the use of sulphur 

 proved the only method of any value. This I applied to 

 three or four colonies at a time, then in a few days to a few 

 more. Then, after an interval to more, and so on, until all 

 had been treated. The result was the entire cure of each 

 colony treated in the order of their treatment, while not a 

 colony in the yard recovered until a certain time after treat- 

 ment, showing conclvisively that it was the treatment which 

 affected the cure. I have used the same method more or 

 less since then, but not to so great an extent. Out of some 

 40 or SO altogether which I have treated, all were cured by 

 one treatment except three, which required a second one 

 each. As many have reported failures in treating diseased 

 colonies with sulphur, it looks as if they must have misap- 

 plied the sulphur some way, and I think it will be best to 

 give in detail the way I have used it. 



For reasons I will give later on in this, I always go to 

 the colony I am to treat during the day, and take away all 

 the combs that contain brood ; or, at least, unsealed brood 

 or eggs, and give to some other colony ; then in the even- 

 ing, as soon as the bees have quit work and are all home, I 

 proceed to dust sulphur over every comb in the hive and, if 

 possible, on every bee in the hive. I never measure the 

 exact amount of sulphur used, but suppose about a tea- 

 spoonful to every three or four combs in the hive. 



I do the work by taking what sulphur I can hold be- 

 tween my thumb and first two fingers and dusting same 

 over first one side and then the other of each comb, bees 

 and all ; also over any collection of bees there may be off 

 the combs in any part of the hive. My aim is to have a thin 

 dusting of the sulphur over every bee and every comb in 

 the hive. The thinner the dusting the better, so it reaches 

 everything in the hive. I tried using an insect powder gun, 

 but couldn't do as good work as I could with my fingers. 

 The next day, after doing this dusting, I carry back to the 

 hives the same number of combs and brood as I had taken 

 away. 



The reason for taking away brood before dusting the 

 combs, and returning again afterward, is because the dust- 

 ing of combs not only kills all the unsealed brood in the 

 combs, but ruins these same combs for brood-rearing. If 

 such combs are left in the hive, all eggs deposited in them 

 will hatch out all right, but the larvcB will die as soon as 

 hatched. By giving these same combs to strong colonies, 



they will clean them out and use them all right, and no loss 

 of combs or brood will result. 



For a week after dusting a diseased colony with sul- 

 phur, fully as many or more bees will be dying as before 

 the dusting ; and this fact may lead some to think the 

 " cure " is not a cure. It will take a couple of weeks before 

 one can tell whether the treated colony is cured or not. 



Diseased colonies are usuallj^ very weak in numbers 

 after being cured, and are of very little, if any more, value 

 than a good nucleus. I have doubts whether it really pays 

 to cure them except such as can be treated very early in the 

 season, before nuclei can be profitably made. For the last 

 year I have adopted the plan of curing such colonies as 

 needed it as early as the middle of February, or even earlier; 

 after that I make as many nuclei as is needed for the pur- 

 pose, and as soon as they have a young laying queen I take 

 away the combs from the diseased colonies, giving the 

 brood to these nuclei, thus building them up into good colo- 

 nies and destroy all the diseased bees with sulphur fumes. 



In changing combs from diseased to other colonies I am 

 very particular to know that each comb is absolutely free 

 from bees, especially of dead ones that may be in some 

 empty cells. Diseased bees quite often crawl into empty 

 cells to die. — American Bee-Keeper. Dade Co., Fla. 



[ Our Bee-Heepin§ Sisters | 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



Some Feminine " Four O'clocks." 



On page 296, Mrs. West says she gets up at 4 o'clock in 

 the morning. — i 



Well, Mrs. West, we are getting up at 4 o'clock in the 

 morning, too. I still think it entirely too early, but those 

 bees of ours are such hustlers that we have to do it in order 

 to keep up with them. I hope Texas is fulfilling your ex- 

 pectations, and giving you as nice a crop of honey as the 

 bees of Illinois are giving us. 



Lost Faith in Bee-Stings for Rheumatism. 



I have lost faith in bee-stings as a cure for rheumatism. 

 I never had as many stings in my life as I have had this 

 summer, and I am having my first experience with rheuma- 

 tism. It is all in my fingers, and is not a pleasant experi- 

 ence by any means, but I am never going to recommend 

 bee-stings as a cure. 



How to Prevent Swarming', 



I have been wanting to say a word to our bee-keeping 

 sisters, but have been so busy, or, rather, I want a little in- 

 formation about bees. I take the Bee Journal, but I can 

 not find just what I want. 



We have been in the bee-business only two years, so we 

 know very little about it. We have 65 colonies, and want to 

 work for comb honey, but our bees don't seem inclined to 

 do so, but want to swarm all the time. How can we pre- 

 vent it ? They have all swarmed once, and the most of 

 them have swarmed the second time, and still some are 

 casting off little swarms every week or ten days. Can we 

 put them back in the parent hive? If so, shall we kill the 

 queen ? I put some swarms back with the queen, but they 

 came out again the next day. We do not want to enlarge 

 our apiary, so what I want to know is how to prevent 

 swarming. Plenty of room does not seem to do our bees 

 any good, as I put plenty of supers on. 



My husband and I care for our bees, and we find it very 

 pleasant as well as interesting. Mrs. Eou O. King. 



Garfield Co., Colo. 



This has certainly been an unusual year in this locality 

 for swarming. Bees have seemed to have a mania for it. 

 So many absconding swarms are going into chimneys, 

 porches, and siding of houses all over the country. I know 

 one man that has had five swarms come into his house. 

 Every few days some one telephones that they have had a 



