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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 2, 



hours' sunshine will surely reach the bees. The packing will 

 become warmed up during the day and retain it a good share 

 of the cominK uight, besides preventing the too rapid escape 

 of heat from the colony, thus acting as a sort of caloric 

 balance-wheel. Two inches of dry sawdust is sufficient for 

 spring-packing. There is one more point in connection with 

 this packing that ought to be heeded, and that is the color of 

 the packing boxes — they must be dark. Light colors reflect 

 the rays of the sun, dark absorbs it. Venetian red Is a good 

 color. 



I know that Mr. R. L. Taylor's experiments of last year 

 showed no advantage in spring protection, but the spring was 

 not one that favored protection — was a warm spring — and I 

 fear that the packing was too thick. The benefits of protec- 

 tion show to the best advantage when a long spell of warm 

 weather is followed by a " freeze-up" lasting several days. I 

 one year lost nearly half of my bees by such a "freeze-up" 

 about the middle of May, coming on the heels of about three 

 weeks of fine weather. Colonies that were packed did not 

 mind the cold. The raising of a cushion in a packed hive 

 would show the bees crawling about all over the combs, while 

 In a hive with no protection the bees were closely clustered, 

 leaving large quantities of brood exposed. Weak colonies un- 

 packed perished outright ; medium-sized ones suffered the loss 

 Of much brood, while the extni-strong ones did not seem to 

 suffer much loss, even if not packed. 



I have no quarrel with those whose methods and localities 

 are adapted to large hives, but to producing comb honey in 

 my locality I prefer a small brood-nest. I want a hive of such 

 a size that an ordinary queen with ordinary management can 

 fill it with brood by the opening of white clover. 



I would not unite weak colonies in the early spring. 

 Without being able to explain Just why, I laiow that several 

 weak colonies united into one will, within a week after, 

 dwindle down to the size of one of the weak ones at the time 

 of uniting. As a rule, I would see that each colony had a 

 good queen and plenty of stores, then tuck it up warmly and 

 let it alone until the time approaches for putting on the supers. 

 If at this time I found many colonies not strong enough to 

 work for comb honey, I would'take the brood from one, two, 

 or three of these weak colonies, as the case might be, and give 

 it to one colony — just filling the hive with brood. A hive thus 

 treated will soon be overflowing with bees. The colonies 

 robbed of brood can be left to build up into sufficient strength 

 for wintering, if nothing more. 



I have devoted considerable space to the bees, but it must 

 not be forgotten that in the production of comb honey no point 

 is of more importance than that of having the hives ovcrjioic- 

 ing with the rltiht kind of bees at the beginning of the harvest. 

 Having gotten the bees, I will, in ray next, tell how to use 

 them. Flint, Mich. 



Ontario Foul Brood Inspector's Report. 



BY Wll. M'EVOY. 



During 1895 I visited bee-yards in the counties of Lamb- 

 ton, Middlesex, Oxford, Brant, Elgin, Norfolk, Wentworth, 

 Lincoln, Perth, Wellington, Peel, York, Ontario, Hastings and 

 Simcoe. I examined 85 apiaries and found foul brood in 32 

 bee-yards, and other kinds of dead brood in many others. The 

 great frosts in May, and the dry weather that set in right 

 after, and continued for so long a time, was very hard on all 

 apiaries on account of its shutting off the honey-flow when the 

 colonies had large quantities of larvae to feed. When the un- 

 sealed stores was used up the bees in many cases did not un- 

 cap the old sealed honey fast enough to keep pace with the 

 large amount of larvae that required so much feeding, and the 

 result was a good deal of starved brood, in several colonies, 

 which was mistaken for foul brood in many cases. The great 

 failure of the honey-flow would have led to the wholesale 

 spread of foul brood through robbing setting in by the bees 

 when the diseased colonies were being treated, if I had not 

 taken particular pains to warn the bee-keepers well, and in- 

 sisted upon everything being done exactly as I ordered. I 

 went in for putting every diseased apiary in grand order, and 

 for having as many, if not more, colonies at the close of the 

 season as when I began. In every part of the province that I 

 went into I found the bee-keepers were pleased when I called 

 on them to examine their apiaries, with the exception of three 

 men ; one of these men had only four colonies, and they were 

 bad with foul brood, and near other apiaries. I explained to 

 him how to cure, and urged him to do so ; I also warned him of 

 the great danger of his keeping the disease so near other bee- 

 yards, but it was all no use — he refused to cure. I waited for 

 over six weeks for that man to get his few colonies cured ; he 



did not even try to do anything, then there was nothing left 

 for me to do but to go and burn his foul-broody colonies so as 

 to save other bee-keepers from having their apiaries ruined by 

 his diseased stock. 



I burned one colony that was nearly dead with foul brood, 

 for a bee-keeper that I never could get to cure his few colo- 

 nies, or do his duty like other men. I burned three very badly 

 diseased colonies in the same apiary the year before. When a 

 bee-keeper can cure a few colonies of foul brood in a short 

 time, and is urged to do so, time after time, and will not do it 

 after being given every possible chance, then I have to stamp 

 the disease out by fire for the public good. 



I burned 13 colonies for another bee-keeper, that were 

 nearly dead with foul brood, in fact, ome colonies in the same 

 apiary had died right out with the plague. I did my best with 

 that man several times to melt up his diseased combs, and 

 burned three foul-broody colonies for him before, but all that 

 had no effect on him, he would, and did, risk using old, dis- 

 eased combs until his apiary got into a horrid state with foul 

 brood. I then stamped the plague out again by fire, so as to 

 save the valuable apiaries in the same locality. 



I was very much pleased with the way all the other bee- 

 keepers went to work and cured their apiaries of foul brood, 

 and some of these men had neiirly 100 diseased colonies when 

 they started to cure. 



Five years ago last spring when I set out to get all the dis- 

 eased apiaries In the Province cured of foul brood, I soon 

 learned that I had undertaken a tremendous job. I found the 

 bee-yards in every locality that I went into at that time in a 

 horrible state with foul brood, and the disease spreading at an 

 alarming rate then. And to make matters worse, many were 

 selling when they saw it. I had first to take the greatest of 

 pains to explain to every bee-keeper how to cure his colonies 

 of foul brood, and then see that they made no mistakes, and 

 that led to my having to write very many long letters to them, 

 hours after I should have been in my bed, so as to help them 

 out, by explaining everything again, which I always did. 



I have handled the disease in six cities and 36 counties, 

 and made a great success of ridding out the disease by getting 

 thousands of colonies cured of foul brood and put in grand 

 order. Several sales of diseased colonies had taken place by 

 the very best of men amounting to hundreds of dollars. I 

 soon found that neither the buyers nor sellers knew that the 

 colonies had foul brood at the time of sale. I was chosen as 

 the sole judge by all these parties. And in one case a note for 

 $240.00 had been given. I decided what I believed to be 

 just and very fair to all, and I am very much pleased to say 

 that I satisfied both the buyers and the sellers, and got every- 

 thing settled very nicely. 



Five years ago last summer, while on my rounds through 

 the Province, I often met with opposition from the bee-keep- 

 ers. Many of the small bee-keepers looked on the inspection 

 business as a something gotten up to drive them out of bee- 

 keeping, and several had no faith in a cure. Some expected 

 that I was going to stamp the disease out by fire. I was as- 

 tonished to find so many holding such views in so many parts 

 of Ontario. I felt very sorry for those people, and took the 

 greatest of pains explaining to them that I came to cure and 

 not to destroy any colony if the bee-keepers would take hold 

 and cure after I told them how to do it. Things have taken a 

 great change since then. I don't find any more opposition, 

 but all very willing to have me call and examine their apiaries. 

 My railway fares, time, and livery hire, for 1895, amount- 

 ed to •SGTo.'lO. Woodburn, Ont. 



[The foregoing report was read at the last meeting of the 

 Ontario Bee-Keeper's Association, after which it was moved by 

 Mr. Frith, and seconded by Mr. Chrysler, that the Foul Brood 

 Inspector's Report be adopted. Carried. 



It was also moved by Mr. R. H. Smith, and seconded by Mr. 

 John Newton, that the Ontario Convention desires to express 

 its appreciation of the work done by the Government in the 

 curing of the various foul-broody apiaries throughout the 

 Province, by the Foul Brood Inspector, William McEvoy, and 

 gives their hearty indorsement of the methods of curing as 

 adopted by him ; also, to express themselves as believing Mr. 

 McEvoy's methods for curing foul brood to be the best at pres- 

 ent known. Carried.— Editor.] 



Xlie IWcEvoy Foul Brood Treatment is 



given in Dr. Howard's pamphlet on " Foul Brood ; Its Natural 

 History and Rational Treatment." It is the latest publication 

 on the subject, and should be in the hands of every bee-keeper. 

 Price, 25 cents ; or clubbed with the Bee Journal for one year 

 —both for $1.10. 



