Dec. 3, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



in 



ins, these cool mornings, in the top super, where 1 hail three extract 

 ing supecs piled over the enameled cloth, I found a cluster of bees in 

 the super, right under the cover, wliich shows that they don't travel 

 back into the brood-chamher. Other hives where I had empty supers 

 piled on, had some honey in all frames again, and some cells capped. 

 It is getting late in the season, and I have to run all these frames 

 through the extractor again, and 1 would lil<e to pile the supers out 

 and let the bees clean them up, but I am a little afraid to do so. Would 

 it be advisable to treat these frames with oil of eucalyptus before I 

 gi.ve them to the bees? 



I have never had any foul brood in my apiary, and I don't know 

 whether I have it now, but it looks suspicions, and I would like to 

 avoid its spreading it I could do it. I have looked through all my 

 other hives and have found no other colony affected. The colony that 

 has the dead brood stored considerable honey this season. 



St. Lonis, Mo., Oct. 3U. 



I do not count it any trouble to answer enquirers on the 

 subject of foul brood. It is a matter of most vital impor- 

 tance to all of us, and the only way to bring about success 

 in eradicating' it is to enquire and report after trials of 

 means of treatment. That is the only method by which we 

 can get to some positive conclusion. We must bear in mind 

 that not a single one of the remedies advocated by different 

 persons has proven efficacious in all instances. It is either 

 because the remedy was not tried with enough care, or be- 

 cause the disease was more virulent in some cases than in 

 others. We see the same thing in diseases of the human 

 race. The remedy that has saved some lives turns out in- 

 efficient in others. 



But let us make sure, first, whether it is real foul brood 

 that your bees have. The most of us are apt to get badly 

 frightened when we see any dead brood at all. The party 

 mentioned in my article previously was very much worried, 

 when the disease appeared, and he tells me now that he had 

 already destroyed one colony by fire, when he wrote me 

 about the disease. He seemed so anxious about it that I 

 took the train at the first opportunity and went to see for 

 myself. Yet the cure was effected in so short a time that 

 he now jokes about his fears. After the publication of my 

 article he wrote me that he had used the eucalyptus just 22 

 days. 



But dead brood, in any case, should be very much mis- 

 trusted. I kept bees for 30 years or more before I saw any- 

 thing in the way of dead larva", except patches that had 

 been chilled by exposure, and it is noticeable that chilled 

 brood is usually in patches, every larva being dead, with a 

 very plain odor of carrion when it has had time to decay, 

 while other diseases show a dead larva or chrysalis here and 

 there. At the first sight of a dead larva in a brood-comb, I 

 should have pronounced the disease foul brood, had I not 

 been informed better by men who had seen different forms 

 of disease. The authority of these men is positive. Foul 

 brood in all cases at a sufficiently advanced stage shows 

 plainly ropiness and coffee color, and looks as if it might be 

 liquefied brown rubber, though it does not string out much 

 more than half an inch or so. Any other form of dead brood 

 is less dangerous, 



Whether in the present instance it is true foul brood or 

 some other disease of a milder nature, it is best in your case 

 to try the disinfectant recommended by Weber, with for- 

 maldehyde, on all supers that have been emptied, without 

 exception. There is evidently much doubt of the efficacy of 

 this remedv in disinfecting combs containing dead larvae, 

 and especially sealed brood, but I believe that, judging 

 from the testimonials given, combs that contain neither 

 brood nor honey can be successfully treated with this drug. 

 Those super-combs are empty and in good shape to be thor- 

 oughly disinfected by a careful treatment. If they are all 

 treated at one time, in a very tightly closed room, it will 

 make a short job, and they ought to be sufficiently disin- 

 fected to run no risk of carrying the disease with them to 

 the bees in the spring. 



The greatest advantage of eucalyptus, if it should prove 

 of value in true foul brood, as has boen claimed by several 

 European apiarists, is that it would not require the removal 

 of the combs from the bees. On empty combs, away from 

 the hive, it seems as if formaldehyde would be a much 

 stronger remedy. It might not be a bad plan to try both. 

 If formaldehyde proves sufficient, it does the work at one or 

 two times at least, while eucalyptus must be renewed from 

 time to time for a few weeks. A treatment of bees by 

 eucalyptus, at this season of the year, would not be conclu- 

 sive, because there is not enough brood reared to make sure 

 of the disappearance oi the disease. So the colony or colo- 

 nies ought to be treated again in the spring. 



Judging from your statement, it is quite possible that 

 you have spead the disease by giving the combs of the dis- 

 eased hive back to others. I would by all means avoid the 



risk of spreading it any further, and therefore would not 

 give any of the supers to the bees, either on the hives or in 

 open air, until they are thoroughly disinfected. I would not 

 under any consideration expose the combs to be cleaned out 

 in the open air. Besides the risk of attracting bees from 

 other apiaries, you would excite your bees and give them 

 bad habits. The habit of robbing, and lurking about build- 

 ings and empty hives or weak colonies, is contracted easily in 

 that way. 



Another fault of giving the combs to the bees in the 

 open, is that they do not clean them or repair them, but sim- 

 ply rob the honey out with the greatest possible haste. In 

 their hurry, they will damage them still more if they find it 

 necessary or convenient, in order to get at the honey more 

 readily. Many of us have seen combs open through the 

 septum or foundation by the bees, to get at the honey on 

 the opposite side, instead of taking off the cappings, just 

 because it happened to be easier to do it that way. So the 

 combs which you would expose in the open would be robbed 

 of their honey without being cleansed or repaired. 



If supers are put upon a hive, one at a time, the bees, 

 if the colony is of fair strength, ought to clean it up within 

 48 hours in mild weather. It may then be removed and 

 another put on, and if this is done during the evening there 

 will be no trouble from robbing. The supers, which are 

 piled on the hives two or three tiers high, and in which the 

 bees have clustered, should be removed in the ordinary way, 

 by shaking or brushing the bees out or by using the escape. 

 Sometimes the removal of all the dry combs, leaving only 

 those on which there are bees, will induce the bees to carry 

 the remainder of the honey down to the brood-combs. It is 

 only when the queen has moved up with the bulk of the 

 colony that it becomes difficult to drive them down. 



If your super-combs contain much honey, it is evident 

 that you have extracted too soon, before the end of the har- 

 vest, and it may be advisable to extract once more. When 

 the supers have once been cleaned they are all right for 

 keeping over, even if they contain a little honey, for this is 

 not in a shape to sour or attract robber-bees. 



Hancock Co., 111. 



[ Hasty's Afterthoughts j 



The " Old Reliable " seen through New and Unreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. Hasty, Sta. B Kural, Toledo, Ohio. 



BEES GOING UPSTAIRS. 



A remark is made on page 632 that it is rare for bees to 

 move upstairs. Quite likely it is in the experience of some 

 apiarists ; but my extracting colonies provokingly often vex 

 me with just that trick. The supers have excluders, but 

 not very perfect ones. 'Spect the queen goes up Paul Pry 

 fashion, and then founds a new Ilium there because it is not 

 very easy to go back. The workers evidently don't know 

 why the queen cannot come above, and often save for her, 

 in a state of polished emptiness, the bottom of several 

 combs. 



IS DISPOSITION FROM THE DRONB SIDE ? 



Concerning hybrids, does the disposition, as to being 

 cross or otherwise, come from the drone side ? That idea is 

 strongly advanced on pages 6bl and 602. Now let us watch 

 out for evidences for and against. 



THAT CAGED QUEEN OUT-DOORS. 



Wm. M. Whitney's colony, on page 655, is unique, and 

 interests me very much. Caged queen out-doors on a table, 

 shaded with a box, and individual bees come at their own 

 option one at a time till several hundreds are around the 

 cage. The number of bees we see bobbing around the en- 

 trances of totally empty hives show us that the bees of an 

 apiary often get lost. I guess the Whitney swarm was 

 composed of these lost bees. The "our crowd" spirit 

 seemed to come to them easily. And the attempt to get the 

 queen out of the cage by going through the process of 

 swarming was beautifully in line with the notions evidently 

 pervading bee-noddles. It was all right to build them up 

 into a good colony; but had he devoted them and some of 

 his own time more purely to the interests of science it 

 would have been still better. How far can this volunteer 



