"THE BEE-IfEEPERS' REVIEW 



141 



rowed down, would "stand ofif" tlie 

 attack. The f^reatest dani^er lies in a 

 badl}' diseased colony being' liable to 

 abscond at any unseasonable time, 

 when tlie first intimation of trouble is 

 usually that of finding: robbers in full 

 possession. 



Rio-ht here let me say that the quick- 

 est, easiest and surest way of curing- a 

 colony of foul brojd, is by the McEvo\' 

 method. 



As to renovating combs with forma- 

 lin gas, I have not 3'et tested it long 

 enough to say anything positive about 

 it. 



A COLONY ONLY SLIGHTLY DISKASKD 

 WILL STOKE SURPLUS. 



A diseased colonj' that comes up to 

 the expected honeyflow not perceptibly 

 weakened in numbers, will be safe for 

 that season; as, on the incoming of the 

 fresh honej' the disease will not in- 

 crease, but rather decirase; and this 

 will hold good up to the end of the 

 hone}' flow. In such a colony the 

 disease will not impair the honey 

 gathering anil storing capacities, 

 whether it is run for comb or extracted 

 honej'; and a colony with the queen 

 excluded from the extracting combs is 

 no more of a menace to the t)alance of 

 the ajtiary than the same colony would 

 l^e were it run for comb honey; and, 

 with a careful apiarist, one who 

 thoroughly understands foid brood, 

 the danger of the disease spreading 

 from such a colony is very slight. 



To prove this, before trying it ex- 

 tensively', extract some combs from 

 such a colon}', having the queen ex- 

 cluded from the surplus combs, and 

 give one or two such combs, right from 

 the extractor, to a nucleus tli.it 3'ou 

 know is fres from foul brood. If it is 

 jiresent in the honev left on those 

 combs, it will be very apt to .'ippear in 

 nucleus in from one to three weeks. I 

 have used such combs repeatedly, till I 

 proved it could be done with safety. 



Yes, foul brood is sometimes in the 

 honev, but when it is in extracted 



honey, I will venture to say that, 99 

 times out of lOO, the germs or spores 

 were put there by the apiarist himself, 

 by extracting- from combs from diseased 

 colonies containing brood or dry scales 

 of the disease. 



GUARDING AGAINST ROBBERS. 



When a diseased colony is cleaned 

 out by robbers, then the germs are in 

 the honey the bees carry home, sure 

 enough, because the robbers carry off 

 some of the contents of diseased cells, 

 as well as the honey, and if such 

 honey is stored in extracting combs it 

 will make trouble; but this dang-er can 

 be avoided by having- the extracting- 

 combs off the hives before danger of 

 robbing is at hand. In this locality 

 the robbing- of diseased colonies is 

 mostl}' done during the fall and earlj' 

 spring-. 



LETTING NEWLY HIVED SW'ARMS STORE 

 EXTRACTED HONEY. 



Another easy and sure plan, involv- 

 ing no risk whatever, and one that I 

 have used with good success, is to ar- 

 range all colonies, at the opening of 

 the clover flow, for comb honey, then 

 use all clover sivarins for extracting-, 

 hiving them on starters of foundation 

 in the brood nest. By this manage- 

 ment, I not only get a lot of new combs, 

 but the bees are perfectly health}', 

 after four or five days, even if some, or 

 all, of the swarms have issued from 

 foul brood}' hives, as, by their being- 

 hived on starters they are given the 

 essential part of the McEvoy treatment, 

 in being- compelled to use up, in comb 

 building, what honey they carried from 

 the diseased colony. This plan is pos- 

 sible here, as our honey flow is of 

 rather long duration, in those years 

 when clo\er yields, the flow lasting 

 with slight intermission, from June 

 till September 12th to 20tn. 



Where so much comb honey would 

 not be desirable, or a short honey flow- 

 not admitting of it, this latter plan 

 could be modified by arranging only 



