1871.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



125 



other with combs emptied of their contents and 

 washed with clean water. They will be furnished 

 with colonies next spring, and placed on the sick 

 list in the hospital. 



Although the experiments have not been as 

 complete and varied as I could have wished, 

 owing to the almost complete occuijation of my 

 time by other duties, I have, however, done 

 enough to satisfy myself that the following mem- 

 ^ oranda, which I have noted in my apiary book, 

 are correct. 



1st. If foulbrood is discovered very early, and 

 there ai'e only a few cells attectcd, prune, and 

 spray with a solution of sulphite of soda. Prune 

 for a week or two, as often as fresh disease is 

 discovered, but if it reappears in the next crop 

 of brood in any quantity over four or six cells, 

 condemn the colony to be treated, if sufficiently 

 early in the season, according to Quinby, as a 

 new swarm. 



2d. If early in the season, and the disease is 

 not too far advanced to prune, or pruning is in- 

 effectual, treat according to Quinby, for although 

 the combs can be cleansed and disiuiected, so as 

 to be safely used again, the trouble of doing it, 

 and the danger of doing it carelessly, is so great 

 that the advantage is in favor of treating it as a 

 new swarm and feeding back the purified honey, 

 to stimulate the making of new combs. 



3d. If discovered in the fall or too late in the 

 season for treatment No. 1, or No. 2, empty all 

 the diseased cells with the atomizer and a solu- 

 tion of sulphite of soda (two ounces to a tumbler 

 of water), return the combs and honey undis- 

 turbed, and if there is any evidence of disease in 

 the spring, treat as circumstances require, either 

 by No. 1 or No. 2. 



E. P. Abbe. 



WetD Bedford, Oct. 15, 1871. 



IH^" Treating foulbrood colonies as new swarms 

 is by no means a reliable method, especially 

 when the disease has assumed a malignant type. 

 It has been practiced by the Germans many 

 years before movable comb hives were in- 

 troduced, sometimes successfully, but more gen- 

 erally unsuccessfully, even in early stages of the 

 disease. Dzierzon tested it very thoroughly when 

 the malady devastated his apiary, but found it 

 entirely unserviceable. 



[For the American Bee Jaurnal.] 



Queen Progeny of a Failing Queen. 



Novice desires to know if queens raised from 

 qtieens that are failing in prolificness, would be 

 prolific or not ? and requests facts. I comply 

 with his desire by making the following state- 

 ment : 



In August, 1870, I had a queen that failed to 

 lay, and was superseded. When she began to 

 fail I took out one frame of brood and eggs and 

 placed it in an empty hive, with one frame of 

 honey ; put in enough of young bees and old to 

 cover the frames well ; fed sweetened water, and 

 got four queen cells. I took three out and put 

 them in a queen nursery, which through care- 

 lessness were lost. The one left in hatched and 



in due time the queen mated with an Italian 

 drone. I gave them one full frame of brood, 

 and one half full of comb and honey. They 

 filled up to eight frames, and came out all right 

 through the winter, except some mouldy combs. 

 I gave them two frames of honey, and in a 

 month another. By the last of April every 

 frame was full of brood and uncapped honey. I 

 put on an upper story containing two combs of 

 drone cells. At the end of May, she had filled 

 top and bottom. I took out five frames of brood, 

 looked well over them for queen cells, but saw 



none. In days after this she came off' with 



an enormous swarm. I took out a frame of 

 brood and gave it to them. In two weeks they 

 filled up the six centre frames full of brood and 

 eggs. The third week I raised them to the upper 

 story, which they also filled. What troubled me 

 most, she was so prolific it was all brood and no 

 honey. I took them out of the two-story hive, 

 and put them in one two feet wide, putting on 

 at the same time four 151b. boxes. I took from 

 them also four frames of brood to strengthen up 

 others. The following is the amount of honey 

 and brood taken from them : 



4 frames full of brood. 

 12 " " honey, 96 lbs. 



4 boxes " " (30 



156 



Old Jiive. 



8 frames of brood. 



4 " honey, .... 32 lbs. 



Machine honey, taken at seven 

 times, say an average of 30 lbs., 210 



— 242 



Total, 



398 lbs. 



Doubting Thomas may question the above. I 

 cannot help that. Natural queen raisei's may do 

 the same. I have a dozen queens, raised this 

 year, just as good. 



1 forgot to state that the old hive is a two- 

 story, which is now full, top and bottom. It 

 could easily spare fifty pounds of comb honey. 



F. Crathokn. 



Bethlehem, Iowa, Oct. 12, 1871. 



It^" Please send us the full report for 1871. 



[For the American Bee Journdl.] 



Poulbrood, 



Mr. Editor : — In July, 1870, I had five strong 

 stocks, from two in the spring. The last of Au- 

 gust found me with most of the brood dead. 

 The combs were made into beeswax. In Sep- 

 tember, the three hives nearest, six or eight feet 

 distant, showed a few cells of dead brood, say 

 five to twenty in a comb. The last of May, 1871, 

 two of these, with from one-half to nine-tenths 

 of the brood dead, were driven out, the hives 

 closed, and put up chamber. The fourtli, with 

 say one-eighth of the brood dead, was driven out 

 June 29th, and the hive put up chamber. The 

 fifth swarmed June 24th, and the swarm went to 

 the woods. The old stock showed some signs 



