326 



rtmm mvmmmiQMM mmM j@^MifMi*. 



bring any of them to the average 

 strength of the colony in my large 

 Quinbv hives. These experiments were 

 continued for about 10 years with the 

 same results. When these diminutive 

 hives had brood in 5 combs in the 

 spring, my large hives had 5 or 6 also, 

 of their large ones, or more than twice 

 as much. 



I see that Mr. Doolittle experiences 

 the same difficulties with his Gallup 

 hive, for he writes thus in his paraph- 

 let, "The Hive 1 Use," on page 8 : 



From practical experience I find that It 

 takes about 6 weeks to build up an ordinary 

 colony in the spring, to where they are 

 ready to produce houey tt) the best advan- 

 tage ; so I commence to stimulate brood- 

 rearing about the first of May At this 



time I find, as a rule, each good colony will 

 have brood in 4 or 5 combs, the 2 center 

 combs containing the largest amount. I 

 now reverse the position of these combs of 

 brood, by placing those on the outside in 

 the center of the brood-nest, which brings 

 the combs having the most brood, on the 

 outside. 



Mr. Doolittle performs the same 

 •work every week for 6 weeks, and, 

 about June 10, all the 9 frames of his 

 small hives are full of brood. 



At the annual convention of bee- 

 keepers held at Rochester, N. Y., last 

 February, Mr. Doolittle said that " he 

 once hatl a queen that filled 32 combs 

 with brood." As 9 combs of a Gallup 

 hive contain, according to Mr. Doo- 

 little, 44,800 bees hatching every 21 

 days, the 32 combs had 154,880 cells 

 occupied with brood, the queen having 

 laid 7,320 eggs every day. 



I wonder how many times ever}' 

 week Mr. Doolittle has reversed the 

 small combs of this colony to obtain 

 such a laying before the honey crop. I 

 wonder, even more, why he now re- 

 strains the capacity of his queens to 

 2,133 eggs daily, to get the best results, 

 especially when I read that the colony 

 with 32 combs gave him 566 pounds of 

 hone}". 1 have never seen such a pro- 

 digious laying, although I use vei-y 

 large hives. It seems to me that such 

 a gootl crop would have increased, in- 

 stead of lessened, my preference for 

 the large hives. 



Our management with these large 

 hives is quite the reverse of that of Mr. 

 Doolittle with his small ones. As he 

 does not like to see his young bees eat 

 too much honey, he contracts the 

 brood-chamber as soon as the crop 

 begins. Not only would it be impos- 

 sible for us to do the same, for our 

 large hives are too much crowded with 

 bees, but we know that if we want 

 •workers in time for the white clover 

 bloom, we ought to prepare our bees 

 during the previous summer ; conse- 

 quently we do not take honey from the 

 bi-ood-chaniber, and we give to our 

 queens a full sway. 



Of course, with our management, 

 our colonics are more populous in 



winter ; the laying begins earlier ; as 

 the cluster of bees on our large combs 

 warms a wider space, the queens lay 

 at least twice as much as in a Gallup 

 conib ; and our spacious hives ai'e full 

 of brood and bees at least one month 

 previous to the white clover crop. 

 Therefore, all the defects of large 

 hives, as enumerated by Mr. Doolittle, 

 exist only in imagination. 

 Hamilton, Ills. 



FOUL BROOD. 



melliods for Eradicating 

 Foul Bee.Disorder. 



this 



Written tor the Americm Bee Journal 

 BY C. J. EOBINSON. 



On page 292, inquiry is made about 

 foul brood — "What is the best thing 

 to radicate it from a yard ?" 



Foul brood is not a " disease," but it 

 is an abnormal condition of bee-brood 

 in its chrysalis stage, occasioned by 

 fermentation, which, in all cases, is 

 followed by a change of properties in 

 the substance fermented, arising from 

 new combination of their principles. 

 The grub-brood is not made sick, for 

 the ferment virus kills outright, as 

 promptly as a deadly bullet or the 

 lightning bolt. 



All chrysalis grubs are pronely fer- 

 mentable, and when certain conditions 

 are present, fermentation occurs spon- 

 taneously, and these conditions happen 

 frequently in changeable climates; cold 

 damp, followed by heat, is dangerous, 

 because bacteria or microbes are gen- 

 erated wherever the conditions are 

 favorable for fermentation. 



When this peculiar fermentation en- 

 sues, it becomes contagious, attacking 

 all matter like that in which it origi- 

 n.ated, and spreading through all of 

 the mass touched by the virus — " a 

 little leaven leavens the whole," but 

 the fei-ment does not affect the difler- 

 cnt matter — it does not aftect imago 

 bees. 



To prevent the spread of infectious 

 matter is the question. To burn "bees, 

 hives and fixings " would be getting 

 rid of so much of the virus-matter, but 

 it would not be certain that all the 

 virus would be burned. An invisible 

 quantity might be left somewhere 

 about the "yard," and in some way 

 come in contact with brood. Then, 

 to follow the way adopted, another 

 "grand illumination" must be had. 

 True, it amounts to more or less 

 "fussing" to eradicate foul brood; 

 and 1 would need to " fuss" consider- 

 able to get another lot of hives, bees 

 and fixings. 



Foul brood can be eradicated by 

 means of fermentative re-agents (an- 

 tiseptics and disinfectants) which kill 



the organism that initiate the process 

 of putrefaction, and the reason why 

 these agents are efiicacious is, either 

 that the presence of the chemical re- 

 agents prevents the development of 

 further spores into a state of maturity, 

 or else that they kill each organism as 

 it is developed ; the spores themselves 

 are not necessarily killed by such re- 

 ,agents, but immediately they develop 

 into the matured state, they are de- 

 stroyed. 



Some of the re-agents, such as 

 corrosive-sublimate, behave as direct 

 poisons to the organisms, and yet 

 others render the medium of the or- 

 ganisms unfit for their further exis- 

 tence and development, so that they 

 die off in consequence. 



In the practical employment of these 

 re-agents, corrosive-sublimate is the 

 most efl'ectual, but it acts solely as a 

 poison, and destroys vitality because it 

 is excessively virulent. One part sub- 

 limate to 1,000 parts of -water, is safe 

 to use, and, if properly applied to foul 

 brood (spraying the aftected combs — 

 all the combs in the hive, thoroughly) 

 the foul is cooked. A stronger solu- 

 tion of sublimate is more eflfectual, and 

 safe, perhaps. 



There are several other re-agents 

 less poisonous — carbolic acid, salicylic 

 acid, and other auti-ferments. The 

 re-agents should be put in contact with 

 the foul or putrifying bi'ood, and if 

 applied to all the combs, all of the 

 foul matter becomes killed, and the 

 bees that chance to get virus on their 

 feet or mandibles, will be likely to 

 come in contact with the agent thus 

 become harmless. 



Some bee-keepers suppose that sali- 

 cylic acid is given bees to swallow as a 

 dose of medicine. If worker-bees 

 should feed on honey or pollen charged 

 with the fermentive virus, then they 

 would void the brood-poison ; but this 

 seldom, if ever, occurs. Those who 

 deal with foul or putrid brood, can use 

 the re-agents that their judgment or 

 fancy dictates. 

 Richford, N. Y. 



BEE-KEEPING. 



A Brief 



Olanre at It§ 

 Its Future. 



Past and 



Read at the 



BY PRES. 



Ohio State Convention 



H. R. BOARDMAN. 



I began bee-keeping in a very mod- 

 erate way, and with hives and fixtures 

 of a very crude patteru, and built up 

 gradually and cautiously for many 

 years before I considered myself any- 

 thing like a specialist. 



During all of the years that I was 

 "feeling my way," as it were, buying 

 new hives and supplies of every de- 



