FEBRUARY 15, 1913 



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to % X 1/2 01" smaller ; and if but few dis- 

 eased colonies are found they should be 

 hauled home that evening where they can 

 be treated more safely than at any outyard. 

 A later examination will show if the disease 

 is appearing in other colonies. If one or 

 more foul colonies in your own or near-by 

 yards have been robbed by your bees, a 

 second examination may disclose a few more 

 diseased colonies, or, as has happened twice 

 in our experience, half or all of the yard 

 may be found affected ; and then the only 

 recourse is to treat the entire apiary — not 

 so colossal a task as might appear. 



At the opening of the flow, every diseased 

 colony must be shaken into a clean hive 

 containing full sheets of foundation. Re- 

 gardless of whether it is necessary to disin- 

 fect the hive, we wish to ask, " Where are 

 we to store the combs better than in the 

 hives from which they came? then, if not 

 rendered until late in the season, how can 

 we make sure that the destruction of all 

 spores is complete in any better way than 

 by boiling the hive after all combs are melt- 

 ed?" Aside from this, we are satisfied 

 that it is not necessary to disinfect the hive. 

 Mr. Trickey, of Nevada, recommends taking 

 several combs away from each diseased 

 colony a few days before shaking. This is 

 not advisable if the flow is at hand, as the 

 bees will fill the empty space with comb. 

 But if not too large a proportion of colo- 

 nies is affected, and the flow is at hand, so 

 there is no robbing, it is well to take away 

 several combs from each diseased colony, 

 brushing the bees into the hive. To be sure 

 of results, the queen should be caged — pref- 

 erably in the morning. When evening 

 comes, a new hive of foundation should be 

 set in place of the old one, the lid taken off, 

 and the bees clustered on it, and dumped in 

 front of the new hive. Then the bees should 

 be taken from the remaining three combs, 

 the queen liberated, when the cure will be 

 complete. Taking away part of the combs 

 causes the bees to cluster and to start the 

 secretion of wax, and very gi'eatly reduces 

 the actual work of shaking. This shaking 

 should be started when the bees cease fly- 

 ing for the day, and should be continued 

 until dark. 



In our own work we now use and prefer 

 the Chantry method of cure, where the yard 

 can be revisited in from three to five days. 

 Tn this plar the new hive is filled with 

 frames containing full sheets of foundation, 

 except that the central frame is at least one- 

 fourth to one-half full of empty comb (the 

 poorest combs in the yard may be so used), 

 while on each side of this frame is one 

 fmme with a starter only. Three to five 



days after shaking, tliis central comb is 

 carefully removed; and while the bees are 

 working freely, the bees are carefully and 

 quickly brushed in front of the hive or into 

 it, and another frame with a full sheet of 

 foundation is added. By the Chantry plan, 

 any diseased honey not at once used for 

 wax-working will be stored in the bit of old 

 comb. The empty space on each side favors 

 compact clustering and free wax-secretion, 

 and both comb and space favor that content 

 which tends to prevent swarming out and 

 drifting to neighboring hives. (At the re- 

 cent convention of the Southern Idaho and 

 Eastern Oregon Beekeepers' Association, 

 Mr. G. J. Yoder strongly advocated quick- 

 ly driving the bees from a foul hive into the 

 new hive, doing the work when the bees are 

 gathering heavily, say between 11 A. M. and 

 4 p. M., as the driven swarm is far less like- 

 ly to " drift " or to swarm out than if shak- 

 en, with the added advantage that night 

 work is avoided.) Whatever the actual 

 method of removing the diseased combs, all 

 such combs, together with all combs used 

 for three to five days on the Chantry plan, 

 are now stored where no bees can reach 

 them. The apiary may now be supered, 

 after putting an excluder on each colony. 

 When it is time to extract, if at all fearful 

 of reinfection from yards near by, we re- 

 move the supers and the excluder, lift a 

 comb or two, when, if no disease is appar- 

 ent, we remove the supers to the shop for 

 extracting. If a few colonies are found 

 with a little disease, and the season is too 

 far advanced to be worth the trouble of 

 curing such colonies, we see that the bees 

 have as much room as they can fill, above 

 the excluder. Then as the flow wanes, they 

 should be sulphured, and all the combs 

 stored where they will be secure from rob- 

 bers. 



If it is possible to spare the time, when 

 the last flow is waning evei-y colony should 

 be inspected. If one waits until the flow is 

 over, robbers may be so bad that inspection 

 of a large yard will be impossible unless, 

 perhaps, the feeding of a large amount of 

 very thin syrup might keep the bees so busy 

 as to allow them to be handled the same as 

 during a flow. 



One of the gi-eatest aids is to get out and 

 clean up neighboring colonies, or to get the 

 inspector to do so. If one has the time, and 

 cares to risk the mere presence of the dis- 

 ease in the yard, he can save every diseased 

 colony that has enough bees to winter. The 

 plan consists in simply contracting the en- 

 trance and fitting an Alexander feeder un- 

 der the liive, with extra care to have every 

 thing tight. When all brood has hatched, 



