186 



IRE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPLR. 



since the former will wipe out the 

 whole apiary as well as all the bees in 

 the neighborhood. I do not consider 

 it contagious only as the honey from 

 an affected colony is introduced into 

 another colony, no matter how small 

 the quantity. It affects only the 

 larvae. It grows until about eight 

 days of age, then dies and decays, 

 emitting an oder that would remind 

 an old soldier of a recent battle-field, 

 It is the oder of strong coffee. Touch 

 the point of a knife to it and it will 

 string out like hot maple sugar, or 

 soft soap. The caps of the cells will 

 be sunken and some only partly cap- 

 ped. Many of the larva.' will, hatch 

 so the combs will appear similiar to a 

 fertile worker layiug eggs in some 

 cells and others empty. The bees 

 commence to dwindle in number, and 

 the combs keep filling up with foul 

 brood, while the colony is soon used 

 up. If there is any honey left in the 

 hive the other bees will soon find it 

 and carry it to their own hives, when 

 they are certainly doomed. 



When a colony is found which has 

 a cell of foul brood it should be closed 

 up tight as soon as possible, so that no 

 bees can go in or out; then before you 

 open another hive, wash in strong 

 soapsuds your knife, hands and all 

 exposed parts, also every tool or any- 

 thing else that has come in contact 

 with the foul brood hive, At night, 

 after the bees have stopped flying, 

 take the foul brood hive and carry it 

 to the cellar, removing the queen and 

 let the hive stand twenty-one days, to 

 hatch out all the brood that can be 

 hatched. Next take the frame and 

 brush all the bees inio an empty box 

 and permit it to remain for forty-eight 

 hours to have them consume all the 



honey they brought into the box with 

 them. Then to a half an ounce of 

 salicylic acid add one quart of water, 

 and with an atomizer sprinkle the btes. 

 Secure some clean comb, or foundation, 

 with a good prolific queen, and plenty 

 of feed, in a new clean hive. Spray 

 the bees and combs every other day 

 for a week, and if early in the season 

 a good swarm may still be made of 

 it. If there is much foul brood and 

 hon y in the hive, the best method of 

 getting rid of of it is to dig a hole in . 

 the ground and bury it, frame and all. 

 To save hives for future use, take the 

 brood box, stand, honey board and 

 entra ice slide an slip them into strong 

 hot lye, in the fall of the year, or on ' 

 some days the bees are not flying, or 

 will not visit the affected hives. 

 After the hives are thoroughly washed 

 in lye let them be exposed as much as 

 possible to the air until the subsequent 

 season. 



The cause of foul brood has not yet 

 been satisfactorily ascertained, Bee- 

 keepers differ in their opinions upon 

 this subject. It seems liable to occur 

 in almost any latitude or locality. I 

 have personally known its existence in 

 Virginia, Kentucky, Iowa, New York, 

 Canada and Vermont. — American Cul- 

 tivator. 



CYPRUS; BEES AND BEE KEEPING. 



Only eleven years are past since 

 Jones and Benton left America in 

 search of the Eastern bees, and im- 

 ported hundreds of the yellow beau- 

 ties into Europe and Americs; and 

 now I should say it is next to im- 

 possible to have one single pure 

 Cyprian. Isn't this a curious fact? 

 Many parties have been writing to 

 me to have Cyprian queens; but up to 

 last fall Mr. Benton had had the 



