No. 4.] BEE KEEPING. 419 



varnished. Bees do not ordinarily collect this, if they can 



find nectar in the flowers ; but as a last resort, in seasons 



of scarcity, they may attempt to use it for winter stores. 



As stored in the combs, such honcj^ is commonly very dark, 



and has a nauseating taste. Careful bee keepers in prepar- 



inir the bees for winter generally remove the frames con- 

 es O XI 



taining such honey, and either feed sugar syrup, or supply, 

 in good season and carefully placed, combs of clean and 

 wholesome honey. 



In this connection, a word of caution is in order against 

 alloiving bees to soil ivashings on the Une. With bees in 

 cities, this nuisance often causes ill feeling among neighbors. 

 To prevent this, simply confine the bees on wash days, or 

 until all clothes within the danger line, say within a radius 

 of a hundred feet, are taken in. 



By far the most serious diseases of bees are those which 

 attack the brood. They may occur any time in the summer, 

 and are known under the popular names of "foul brood," 

 "pickled brood," "bad brood," "black brood," or "the 

 New York bee disease," and so on. Of these, the diftcr- 

 ences, if any, are so slight and technical that we cannot 

 here consider them. For simplicity, then, we wall speak 

 of the ])rood disease which has gained a firm hold in certain 

 localities of Massachusetts as ford brood. 



A foul brood colony in a neighborhood should be regarded 

 as dangerous to the bees as a case of smallpox is to man. 

 The strictest laws should protect bee-men from the i)os8i!)lc 

 contagion through neglect of a diseased colony by some 

 thoughtless neighbor. Massachusetts affords no such protec- 

 tion, unfortunately, as is secured in New York, Michigan and 

 other States. In New York, inspectors, one to each of the 

 four divisions of the State, have been appointed by the State 

 Department of Agriculture to visit everybody who keeps 

 bees. Wherever a bad colony is found, it is either treated 

 and cured or destroyed, according to the discretion of the 

 inspector. The result is that fewer cases of foul brood, or, 

 as they term it, black brood, have been found this year than 

 last. It is expected by this means to stamp it out entirely 

 within a few years. 



Although the disease is not so general in Massachusetts, it 



