1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



589 



Such a condition is not according to nature; 

 and one can readily see that a bunch of bees, 

 no matter how large, that is separated by 

 slabs of solid honey or syrup can not keep as 

 warm as where the combs are empty and the 

 bees can crawl into the cells, thus establish- 

 ing bodily contact heat between several di- 

 visions of the bees separated only by the 

 midribs in the combs. 



With regard to making sugar syrup it is an 

 advantage to use hot water, for the reason 

 that the suo;ar will dissolve a little more 

 readily. Cold water may be used, but it will 

 require considerable stirring. As to propor- 

 tion, we would advise a two-toone rather 

 than a two and-a-half or three-to-one mix- 

 ture. The first mentioned will make a syrup 

 a little thinner than honey; and if it is fed 

 early enough the bees will "invert " it slight- 

 ly, so that it will not be so inclined to granu- 

 late in the combs. If the feeding must be 

 deferred until the first of November in about 

 this latitude, we would recommend making 

 a syrup two-and-a-half to one or three to one. 

 In that case it will be necessary to use a lit- 

 tle honey, as recommended by Mr. Doolittle 

 on page 561 of our last issue. 



SHAKING TO MAKE UNITED BEES PEACEABLE. 



Elsewhere in this issue, in his regular 

 department, Mr. Doolittle has an article on 

 uniting, to which we wish to call special at- 

 tention. As usual, our correspondent does 

 not recommend any plan of manipulation un- 

 til he has tried it time and time again, and 

 knows that it is reliable; and so in this case. 



When we gave that plan of introducing by 

 shaking the bees in front of the entrance, 

 on page 556 of our last issue, and further 

 suggested that the same general principle 

 mignt work very satisfactorily in uniting, we 

 had not seen what Mr. Doolittle had to say 

 on this question. While we saw no reason 

 why it should not be feasible, it is some sat- 

 isfaction to know from such an authority that 

 it actually does work. 



The reader will notice that the plan we 

 suggested on page 556 differs from the one 

 described by Mr. Doolittle, in that he recom- 

 mends bringing the two hives, the bees of 

 which are to be united, gradually together 

 two or three feet on different days until they 

 are side by side. Whether this last is a nec- 

 essary procedure, we do not know; but doubt- 

 less our correspondent has found that mere- 

 ly shaking them together would not be suf- 

 ficient to make them abandon their old loca- 

 tion in favor of, a new one unless they are 

 shaken into a box and confined for a few 

 hours until they assume the condition of 

 bees that have swarmed out and have re- 

 clustered. 



In relation to this plan we may say that we 

 have tried it a good many times at our out- 

 yards in making up baby nuclei, and found 

 it to work admirably. 



Simply uniting two lots of bees from two 

 different locations in the yard without shak- 

 ing or bringing together a few feet a day 

 simply means tliat the old bees that havie 



been moved will go back to the old stand. 

 They may be moved again and again until 

 they all stay in their new location; but this 

 involves a large amount of work. 



The general scheme of shaking bees to- 

 gether in a box where there is no brood, 

 honey, or combs, makes them feel a sense of 

 loss. The one, two, or three lots that are 

 put together, by reason of their bodily con- 

 tact come to have the same general odor. 

 When, therefore, they are dumped in front 

 of a new location and given combs of honey 

 and brood they behave, to all intents and 

 purposes, like a swarm. 



We shall have a series of snap shots short- 

 ly which will show just how this is done. 



IS IT NECESSARY TO DISINFECT HIVES THAT 

 HAVE CONTAINED FOUL BROOD? 



On p. 452 of our issue for Aug. 1, while ad- 

 mitting that in most cases foul brood would 

 not be carried through the hives, we stated 

 that, inasmuch as disinfection by means of 

 fire was so simple, we thought it very un- 

 wise not to take the precaution; that we had 

 talked with Canadians who said that the 

 McEvoy treatment, in some cases where 

 hives had not been disinfected, had failed to 

 effect a cure; that our own experience of 

 many years ago in a few cases showed how 

 the disease was transmitted through the 

 hive. 



The following letter furnishes pretty good 

 proof that the disease can be transmitted in 

 just that way: 



On page 452, Aug. 1, the question is asked, "Is it 

 necessary to disinfect hives when giving the McEvoy 

 treatment for foul brood?" My experience indicates 

 that it is. Last fall I wanted" to transfer a colony on 

 good combs in an old hive to a regular 8-frame hive; 

 and not having a hive-body (the frames in my hive 

 were Hoffman self-spacing), I borrowed one from a 

 neighbor, getting the bottom-board and hive-body 

 only. Later this colony died of foul brood. 



A few days after borrowing this body and bottom- 

 board I bought a hive from the same neighbor. This 

 hive was complete with old combs, super, etc., but no 

 bees. This was put in another yard, and the colony 

 in it also developed foul brood. I need the super up- 

 on another hive this summer, and this colony has de- 

 veloped foul brood. This neighbor lost all his bees by 

 foul brood, but did not know the reason for his loss 

 until I discovered the foul brood in my apiary, and 

 traced it to his yard. I also used one of the empty 

 combs from the neighbor's hive to hive a swarm of 

 bees for another neighbor, and that colony developed 

 foul brood. . . , , , ,. 



There were four distinct cases of foul brood— first, 

 through the hive-body and bottom-board; second, 

 through the old combs and hive; third, through the 

 super and section-holders; fourth, through a single 

 comb. I might add that, in my investigaiion, I found 

 still another neighbor also got foul brood in his yard 

 by buying an empty hive from the first-mentioned 

 yard. Hereafter, Mr. Editor, I will use a gasoline 

 blow-torch on any hive that has had foul brood, and 

 burn up all frames. I find that it does not pay to take 

 any chances. I want to be on the safe side, regardless 

 of the opinions of others. M. V. Calcutt. 



Dunlap, SeatUe. Wash., Aug. 9. 



Foul brood is too terrible a disease to take 

 any chance with; and it is and always has 

 been our policy to advise taking the safe 

 side on this question. A few reports show- 

 ing that foul brood can be transmitted 

 through the hive are worth a thousand neg- 

 ative testimonies where the disease has not 

 been carried in that manner. 



