I'Jllo 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



207 



ill the eveuiug, aud .shako tbe bees into 

 their owu hives; yive them frames 

 with comb foumlatiou starters and let 

 thorn buikl comb for four days. The 

 boos will make the starters iuto comb 

 during- the four days and store the 

 diseased honej- in them, which they 

 took with them from the old comb. 

 Then in the evening of the fourth day 

 take out the new combs and give them 

 comb foundations to work out, and 

 then the cure will be complete. By this 

 method of treatment all the diseased 

 honey is removed from the bees before 

 the full sheets of fotmdation are 

 worked out. All tlie old foul brood 

 combs must be burned or made into 

 wax after they are removed from the 

 hives, and all the new combs made 

 out of the starters during the four 

 days must be buriied or made into 

 wax, on account of the diseased honey 

 that would "be stored in them. All the 

 curing or treating of diseased colonies 

 should 1)6 done in the evening, so as 

 not to have anj- robbing done or cause 

 any of the bees from the diseased col- 

 onies to mix and go with bees of sound 

 colonies. By doing all the work in the 

 evening it gives the bees a chance to 

 settle down nicely before morning and 

 then there is no 'confusion or trouble. 

 This same method of curing colonies 

 of foul brood can be carried on at any 

 time from May to October when the 

 bees are not getting any honey by 

 feeding plenty of sugar syrup in the 

 evenings to take the place of honey 

 flow. It will start the bees robbing 

 and spread the disease to work "with 

 foul brood colonies in warm days when 

 the bees are not gathering honey, and 

 for that reason all work must be done 

 in tlie evening, when no bees are fly- 

 ing. When the diseased colonies are 

 weak in bees, put the bees of two, 

 three or fotir colonies together, so as 

 to get a good sized swarm to start the 

 cure with, as it does not pay to spend 

 time fussing with little weak colonies. 

 "When the bees are not gathering 

 honey, any apiary can be cured of foul 

 brood by i-emoving the diseased combs 

 in the evening, and g^ivlng the bees 

 frames with comb foundation starters 

 on. Then also in the evening feed 

 the bees plenty of sugar syrup, and 

 thev will draw out the foundation and 



store the diseased honey which they 

 took with them from the old combs; 

 in the fourth evening remove the new 

 combs made out of the starters aud 

 give the bees full sheets of comb foun- 

 dation and feed plenty of sugar syrup 

 each evening until every colony is in 

 tirst-class order. Make the syrup out 

 of granulated sugar and put one pound 

 of water to every two pounds of sugar 

 aud then bring it to a boil. As pre- 

 ^'iously stated, all the old combs must 

 be burned or made into W'ax when 

 removed from the hive, and so must 

 all the new combs made during the 

 four days. No colony is cured of foul 

 brood by the use of any drug. All 

 the old combs must be removed from 

 every diseased colony and the hive got 

 away from the bees before the brood 

 rearing is commenced in the new clean 

 combs." 



X. B. France, inspector of apiaries 

 of Wisconsin, says: "All the differ- 

 euce from the :McEvoy treatment that 

 I practice, I dig a deep pit on level 

 ground near diseased apiary, and after 

 getting a fire in the pit, such diseased 

 combs, frames, etc., as are to be burn- 

 ed, are burned in this pit in the even- 

 ing and the fresh earth from the pit 

 returned to cover all from sight. If 

 diseased combs with honey in are 

 burned on the surface of soil there is 

 great danger the melted honey will 

 run on the soil and in the- morning the 

 robber bees will be busy taking home 

 the diseased honey. 



"Also I cage the queen while the 

 bees are on the six or eight strips of 

 comb foundation, to prevent any 

 swarming or deserting." 



The equipment necessary for the 

 McEvoy treatment is a large canvas 

 or sheet, a broad pail partly fllled with 

 the corrosive sublimate solution, a 

 sponge or rag, a bee brush similar to 

 a Coggshall, a screw driver, or some 

 other tool for prying the frame loose, 

 and a set of frames containing only 

 starters of foundation. The only time 

 of the day suited to the treatment 

 is toward evening, when the bees have 

 ceased flying to and from the fields. 



A bright moonlight night answers 

 the purpose if colonies are to be treat- 

 ed, though the bees are perhaps more 

 easilv handled just at dusk than in 



