406 



Beekeeping 



locate the hive quickly. They then fan their wings and the 

 others follow them into the hive. If this is not done the bees 

 may wander about and get under the hive or in some other 

 undesirable place. 



After the bees are mostly in the new hive a queen and 

 drone trap (F) or a strip of perforated zinc is placed over 

 the entrance to prevent the colony from deserting the hive. 

 The old combs are now quickly removed. If several 

 colonies are being treated at one time it may pay to stack 

 several hive-bodies containing contaminated combs over a 

 weak diseased colony to allow most of the healthy brood to 

 emerge, thereby strengthening the weak colony. After ten 

 or twelve days this colony is treated 

 in turn and all the combs are rendered 

 into wax. 



An apiary of any size should have 

 included in its equipment a wax press 

 (p. 335) for removing wax from old 

 combs. After the contaminated frames 

 are taken to the honey-house the combs 

 should be kept carefully covered, so 

 that no bees can reach them until the 

 wax can be rendered. This should 

 not be delayed very long or the 

 combs may be ruined by wax-moths. 



The slumgum or refuse remaining after the wax is re- 

 moved should be burned as it is usually not sterilized in 

 the rendering of the wax. Contaminated combs should 

 not be put into a solar wax extractor for fear of spreading 

 the disease. The wax from contaminated combs may safely 

 be used in the manufacture of comb-foundation. 



The hive which has contained the diseased colony should 

 be thoroughly cleaned of all wax and honey, and it is desirable 

 that it be carefully disinfected by burning out the inside with 

 a gasoline blue-flame torch (Fig. 169). If this piece of ap- 

 paratus is not available, several hive-bodies may be piled 

 together on a hive bottom and some gasoline or kerosene 



FIG. 169. Gasoline torch. 



