854 



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-^'■^^^^^'■^^^tA 



This was our first attempt at cellar 

 wintering, and it will be our last, until 

 such time as we may be able to build 

 a repository that can be controlled in 

 respect to ventilation and temperature, 

 and rats and mice are rigidly excluded. 



Centerville, Iowa, Dec. 18, 1890. 



[The Query Department is not the 

 place to get immediate replies. Each 

 Query has to take its turn, and it takes 

 several weeks to get a batch of Queries 

 ready, send them out, get replies, and 

 then to put into print. The very full 

 answers given to the Query on page 821 

 will be of value to others, if not to you 

 now. — Ed.] 



FOUL BROOD. 



Some very Important Qiies^tions 

 Propounded. 



Written for theAma-ican Bee Journal 



BY WM. M'EVOY. 



I have just read friend Koeppen's 

 letter on page 808, and as I have seen 

 one or two colonies of foul brood in 

 my time, I would be very much pleased 

 if he would answer me the following 

 questions through the American Bee 

 Journal. 



1. You say that in May your 37 colo- 

 nies were well aud in good condition ; 

 do you mean that they were free from 

 foul brood ? 



2. You say j'ou found seven diseased 

 in June, and gave the cure Mr. Pringle 

 named. I have not seen that Journal. 

 Will you please tell us just exactly 

 what you did ? and at what time of the 

 day you treated them ? 



3. In July, you say that you had 12 

 or 14 more colonies diseased ; and to 

 urge them to stay, you put in some 

 foundation. About how much founda- 

 tion did you put in ? and at what time 

 of the day did you do that ? 



4. You say that some that you cured 

 in July caught the disease again this 

 Fall, will you please tell us exactly 

 how you cured them ? at what time of 

 the day you treated them ? how far 

 apart your colonies are from each 

 other ? and whether you treated them 

 all at once, or part one day and part 

 another, and so on ? 



5. You say that your colonies were 

 all in good condition in May ; that 

 being the case, how many swarms did 

 you get ? and how did you treat them ? 



6. As you say your colonies were in 

 good condition in May, how much 

 honey did you get, this season ? 



7. Which have you ran most for, 

 comb or extracted honey ? If ex- 

 tracted, where do you exti-act from — 

 the top story or the brood chamber ? 



8. Whei'e do you winter your bees ? 

 in a cellar or on the Summer stands ? 

 If in the cellar, what was the average 

 temperature of it ? If you wintered 

 them on the Summer stands, how were 

 they fixed or packed ? at what time in 

 the Fall did you pack them ? and what 

 time in Spring did you unpack them ? 

 or were they packed all Summer ? 



9. You say that yon fed eight dollars 

 worth of sugar, was that fed to colo- 

 nies you were trying to cure ? If so, 

 please tell us exactly how you were 

 treating them ? 



10. I see that you are now down 

 from 37 colonies to 3, what sort of 

 combs have those 3 colonies got, old or 

 new ? and about how much honey was 

 there in them before you fed ? please 

 to tell us exactly what your feed was 

 composed of ? 



11. You say that you had to put the 

 bees together so much, that they have 

 been reduced to only 3 colonies, what 

 time in the day did you do the doubling- 

 up of your colonies ? Was it in the 

 honey season you doubled them, or 

 after it was over ? Did you give them 

 another set of combs, and try to cure 

 the disease then, or what did you do ? 

 please tell us exactly what you did in 

 your treatment at that time. 



12. You say that almost all those 

 that you put on foundation, left their 

 hives, what about those that did not 

 leave ? How were they ? Was the 

 disease just as bad in them as in jour 

 others that were not given foundation ? 



13. In the Fall when the queens 

 have done laying, if you remove all 

 the combs and do not either boil or dis- 

 infect the foul hives, but at once put 

 six combs into them, with every cell 

 sealed solid, which have been taken 

 from colonies that never had the disease, 

 will foul brood start or break out in 

 such hives again ? If so, will you 

 look very closely into this and explain 

 in detail, giving your reason, backed 

 by your own experience ? please do 

 not give me the experience of other 

 men as I know all about what they 

 think and guess at. I would give 

 more for the opinion, backed by expe- 

 rience, of a good careful and close 

 observer, that had tested and proved a 

 thing that had been a success, than all 

 the opinions ever guessed at. 



14. Did foul brood originate in your 

 apiary or did your bees get it bj' robbing 

 at foul-brood apiaries ? Did you buy 

 any foul-brood colonies, or did you get 

 any combs from any one during the 

 last five years, or the time it started 

 in your apiary ? or, did you buy any 

 honey and give it to your bees, in the 

 last 5 years, as you claim to have the 

 disease about that long ? How far are 

 you located from other apiaries ? and 

 are they free from foul brood ? 



15. What did you do with all your 

 combs ? Have you any left ? If so, 

 are you going to use any of them ? 



16. You seem to think that it would 

 be a hard thing to cure, by the sealed 

 combs' plan, in the Fall, because you 

 say you could not get enough sealed 

 combs to make the experiment ! 



Pardon me, dear friend, when I tell 

 you that in your apiary the sealed 

 combs would be foul, and it would not 

 do to use them, when the whole apiary 

 has been so badly diseased that out of 

 37 colonies in May you have only threfr 

 colonies now ! 



But here is a question I would like 

 you to answer. If your colonies were 

 all sound and free from foul-brood, 

 but a few, could you not feed the- 

 sound ones in the Fall, until the combs 

 were sealed, and then go in the evening' 

 to your foul colonies and remove the 

 diseased combs, and give sealed combs 

 from the sound colonies which you 

 fed — could you not do that ? if not, 

 why not ? You might say that you 

 could buy sealed combs from some 

 other bee-keeper. Now, friend, par- 

 don me again, when I tell yon that 

 the risk is too great ! I would not use 

 any sealed combs from an apiary, 

 unless I examined the apiary they 

 came from first. I have known many 

 a fine apiary ruined bj' using combs 



that came out of foul-brood apiaries t 



17. When your bees swarmed, did 

 you put them in empty hives or hives 

 tilled with combs, or foundauon ? 

 What kind of a hive do you use ? 



18. What is your other business, be- 

 sides bee-keeping ? Does the other 

 business crowd you at the time your 

 bees need the most attention ? I will 

 take it as a great favor, friend Koeppen. 

 if you will answer these few questions 

 through the American Bee Journal. 



Wood burn, Canada. 



INVENTIONS. 



Improvements vvliicli are yet 

 Undiscovered. 



Written for the Western Ploioman 



BY C. H. DIBBERN. 



Bee-keepers often boast of the won- 

 derful improvements that have been 

 made in the last twenty-five years, and 

 with good reason. Within this pei-iod 

 was invented the honey-extractor, 

 comb-foundation, honey-knife, solar 

 wax-extractor, bee-smoker, sectioa 

 honey-boxes, queen-and-drone-traps, 

 queen-cages for sending by mail, bee- 

 escapes, and many more articles of 

 great value to our pursuit. 



As I look back over the past. I 

 sometimes wonder what more the 

 future has in store for us. Do we now 



