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825 



the gurms would esciipo ? Suri'ly.lhey 

 would carry some into their new homes 

 and start the disease afresli. This 

 uever occurs. Then, again, if the 

 bees are slwlcen out of a foul-liroody 

 colony into a clean hive, and allowed 

 to remain there until the honey is con- 

 sumed in their bodies, the disease will 

 never return ; in other word.s, placing 

 the bees in a new home without h(jney 

 in their abdomens, may be looked upon 

 as a sure cure. 



If one experiment, or even twenty, 

 only had been tried to convince me on 

 this point, I might yet doubt its effi- 

 ciency, but when hundreds have 

 proved that the disease will not return, 

 it is conclusive evidence, to me at 

 least. 



I know of oae gentleman who had a 

 score or more colonies badly diseased 

 with foul-brood early in the Spring, 

 before there was any lioney in the 

 flowers. He shook all the bees out of 

 each hive into clean hives tilled with 

 foundation ; the weather was cold and 

 unfavorable for drawing out the foun- 

 dation, and it was a number of days 

 before they made much progress in 

 that direction, sufficient time at least 

 to consume the honey in their abdo- 

 mens ; in fact, they had to be fed some 

 considerable time before brood-rear- 

 ing commenced. In not one instance 

 did the disease re-appear. 



Combs from a diseased colony frozen 

 for three winters in succession, will 

 produce the disease when placed in a 

 healthy colony. Honey from a dis- 

 eased colony may be kept for years, 

 but when fed to a colony in a healthy 

 state, it will transmit the disease. 

 How is it that the disease will remain 

 in the honey for years, and will not 

 i-emain on the bees (if it has ever been 

 there) for as many days ? If the bees 

 carry the disease in any other way 

 excepting iu the honey, how is it that, 

 if you extract the honey froiu a foul- 

 brood colony, and allow the bees to 

 consume all the honey that remains in 

 the cells, and that when they begin to 

 show signs of hunger by removing 

 them to a fasting box, a very much 

 shorter period of fasting will suffice. 

 If their abdomens are filled with 

 honey before they are removed to the 

 fasting box, they have to fast for a 

 number of days before being put into a 

 new hive. 



Fasting. — The preparation of a col- 

 ony of bees for fasting is very impor- 

 tant, as it makes a marked diflerence 

 whether they are queenless or not. also 

 the length of tiihe they have been 

 queenless, A colony made queenless 

 and placed in a box to fast would be- 

 come agitated, and would not all fast 

 alike ; some would starve to death, 

 while others that were less excitable, 

 would not have the honey in their 



al)d<)nu!iis consumed, but if the colony 

 had their (pieen with tliem, they would 

 cluster anil remain perfectly quiet. 



If a colony has been made queenless, 

 and allowed to remain so for a few 

 days, they may be placed in a fasting 

 bo.\ without tlie danger before men- 

 tioned, so tluit it is necessary for the 

 bees either to have a queen, or to have 

 remained i|ueenless for several days. 

 Then again, if they are put in a warm 

 place, some of them appear to become 

 excited, and anxious to get out and 

 continue to rush about in an excited 

 manner, until they have consumed the 

 honey in their abdomens, and die from 

 starvation, labor and worry, while 

 those that remained quiet would yet 

 retain almost all they had eaten ; thus 

 a cool place is necessary. 



Darkness is another very important 

 thing, because if the colony is placed 

 in tlie sunshine, or where it is light, 

 they become as much excited as in a 

 warm place, and seem determined to 

 get out, wliile if placed in a dark cel- 

 lar or some other suitable place, they 

 cluster as naturally as a swarm. If 

 the temperature is not above 55^', they 

 will remain in this cluster so quietly 

 that it is with difficulty you can discern 

 a movement. They will remain in this 

 quiet state from 4 to 8 days, according 

 to the amount of honey they take with 

 them, and accoi-ding to the tempera- 

 ture of the place. I have had instances 

 where they have remained over 8 days, 

 while testing the length of time they 

 would live. 



A similar colony placed in a warm 

 repository, would consume their honej' 

 in 3 or 4 days, while the one placed in 

 the sun, or light, would worry them- 

 selves, so that 2 -days or less would 

 sometimes be sufficient to exhaust 

 many of their number. They should 

 be fasted alike, or as nearly so as pos- 

 sible. Before removing them to the 

 fasting box from their hive, they 

 should be smoked and drummed, and 

 made to fill tliemselvcs with honey as 

 nearly alike in quantity as possible. 

 After this has been done, no time 

 should be lost in removing them, for if 

 allowed to remain a few minutes in the 

 hive, many of them will replace the 

 honey in the cells, so that while a por- 

 tion of them would be lilled with 

 honey, others would have none, and 

 consequently, could not be expected to 

 fast as long as those whose honey- 

 sacs were filled. 



Great care should be taken after 

 they are placed in the fasting box with 

 the sieve over it, that no bees from 

 other hives are allowed to light on this 

 sieve or screen, as I have known bees 

 to pass honey through the screen, and 

 should they give any of this honey to a 

 bee from another colony (and it should 

 be used in brood-rearing) that colony 



would also bcccmic diseased. I hav(! 

 never yet known tlie disease to be con- 

 tracted by either queens or drones, 

 although i have experimented largely 

 in that direction, taking queens from 

 foul-broody colonies and placing them 

 in healthy colonies. 



I was once informed by one of the 

 best bee-keepers in tlie United States, 

 that he had tried the experiment scores 

 of times; that is. selling the queens 

 out (jf healthy colonies, and replacing 

 them with t'ho.sc from the worst af- 

 fected foul-broody colonies, aiul in no 

 instance did the disease appear in these 

 hives, the apiary being 3 miles from 

 the one in winch the diseased colonics 

 were. The gentleman had several bee- 

 farms. I do not mean to assert that 

 the disease never has been carried by 

 queens or drones, but I honestly be- 

 lieve that if it has ever been the case, 

 that the honey taken with them had 

 something to do witJi it. , 



Modus Operandi. — Havingsufticiently 

 described the disease so that the 

 merest novice should be able to detect 

 it, also why the various operations 

 should be performed, it will now be in 

 order to describe the process that we 

 usually adopt which makes success 

 certain every time. You must first 

 have the necessary tools to operate 

 with : A smoker and fasting box (or a 

 hive with a screen to fit over the top). 



With smoker in hand, go to the hive 

 which you wish to operate on. If 

 there is no brood in the hive, or if you 

 do not care to save the brood, you then 

 smoke and dram the bees until they 

 all fill themselves wdth honey ; as soon 

 as they are filled, they must be shaken 

 out into the box you intend them to 

 occupy in fasting. A better way is to 

 lift the hive ofi' the stand and set the 

 fasting box iu its place ; then, when the 

 bees are shaken down into this box, 

 those that take wing will come in 

 more readih. 



Place thecombs in an empty hive, 

 then by turning the hive upside down 

 and striking it on the ground, the bees 

 will pass up into the fasting box ; when 

 all the bees are in, place a wire-screen 

 over the top, close the entrance, and 

 carry them to some dark repository (a 

 cellar if possible) setting the hive 

 down and turning it over on its side ; 

 by this means what was formerly the 

 top of the box becomes the side, and 

 the bees will cluster on the upper side 

 of the box, thus allowing the air to 

 pass through the screen. 



They may remain in this dark re- 

 pository hanging in a cluster similar 

 to a swarm until they show signs of 

 hunger, which is easily perceived. As 

 the food in the abdomen is gradually 

 consumed, the cluster becomes smaller ; 

 the bodies of the bees also look smaller 

 a few bees, say a hundred or so, will 



