1871.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



249 



set aside after sulphuring, and introduce a colony 

 this svimmer. 



No. 4, with a fine queen, from its weakness 

 raised nt> brood, and was transferred with its 

 queen to No. 5. This hive is also reserved for 

 future experiment, as soon as I get an extractor. 

 Tliese last two are very heavy and rich in stores. 



Nos. 5 and G are strong, raising brood rapidly, 

 and to all ai)pearance perfectly healthy. Both 

 of these conti'acted the disease quite late — one 

 in September, probably the latter part ; the 

 other in August. There is no certainty but that 

 the latter may still have diseased honey sealed 

 up ; though I think the other, No. 5, is safe. 

 Hive No. 'S is reserved for tlie "time cure." Mr. 

 Quinby says that exposure of hives to the in- 

 clemency of the winter months makes them safe 

 for future use.* The question comes up whether 

 it is not time instead of weather which cures. 

 Certainly, freezing does not destroy the germs ; 

 and if it is at all akin to the epizootic disease, 

 English authorities prove that the temperature 

 of winter does not affect it. 



Mr. Curtis, in vol. G, page 11, says that he has 

 the best success by removing the queen in its first 

 stages, keeping the colony queenless from one to 

 three months. f Here he evidently relies upon 

 time. The natural life of the poison or germs 

 maybe six months or less. Would it not be well 

 to test this point '? 



Nos. 2 and 4 are reserved for the following ex- 

 periment. 



Remove the honey with the extractor. Im- 

 merse the empty combs in a solution of common 

 chloride of lime for a few hours, and then in a 

 strong solution of chloride of sodium (common 

 salt) ; after which rinse with clear cold water, 

 dry, introduce a colony, and feed with the ex- 

 tracted honey, after it has been scalded. 



If I should venture to make a rule from the 

 few facts at hand, I should say that empty combs, 

 or combs which can be emptied of putrid larva 

 by the atomizer, or of honey by the extractor, 

 can be thoroughly disinfected and safely used 

 again. But that where there has been any honey 

 sealed in the presence of the infection, the disease 

 may return again within a limited time, say six 

 months. 



My two strongest colonies are those which I 

 transferred from diseased hives last June, and fed 

 with their own honey after it was scalded. If 

 they had carried any disease with them, it^would 

 certainly have appeared before this. 



I have no doubt but that Mr. Alley has the 

 interest of his bee-keeping friends at heart ; and 

 he cannot too strongly caution them about this 

 disease ; but it is so much against my profession 

 (whatever my practice may be) to cure the dis- 

 ease by killing the patient, that I shall adopt 

 any method, no matter how tedious it may be, 

 to restore my apiary to health. We cannot rea- 

 sonably expect to perfect any treatment with- 

 out numerous trials, defects and experiences ; 

 but I firmly believe the path which I am pursu- 



* This is not in accordance with European experience. — Ed. 



t This is Dzierzou's method. The removal of the queon 

 prevents the production of brood, and thus literally starves 

 out the disease, when it has not yet reached its virulent and 

 contagious slage. — Ed. 



ing is the right one, although others may im- 

 prove upon it, and point out a shorter road to 

 success. 



One word more in regard to chlorine. Cur 

 veterinary surgeon informs me that chlorine 

 vapor is the inosi effectual remedy for epizootic 

 apthse. I have shut up in a hive chloride of lime 

 for a few days, and. without further purifica- 

 tion, introduced a healthy tone, without any 

 subsequent appearance of disease. In Nos. 1 antl 

 5, chloride of lime was introduced on the bottom 

 board, after the spraying, without any ill efi'ecrs 

 so far as the bees were conceiuied, although in 

 No. 5 the quantity was so large that the bees 

 were paralyzed, and remained so for one or two 

 hours before perfect recovery. It may be found 

 that the vapor alone is sufiicient for all practical 

 purposes. E. P. Abbe. 



JS'ew Bedford, Musk, March 17, 1871. 



[For the American Bee Journal.]' 



Foulbrood. 



I had supposed until last summer that we 

 were beyond the reach of fouUn'Ood, being so far 

 not only west, but north. Summer before last 

 we took four swarms to the woods to see if they 

 would do better there. They gathered more 

 honey, but got the foulbrood. We did not know 

 it, however, and put them in my cellar with forty 

 other swarms, piled up. Never having seen the 

 enemy, and not expecting it, we did not know 

 we had it till August, and by that time we had 

 spread it through two-thirds of our stocks by 

 changing combs and swarming. 



The odor of one of the woods' swarms first 

 awakened me to a suspicion, and a little examina- 

 tion and study of the authorities soon convinced 

 me of my fate. Part of the bees belonged to a 

 friend wiio works with me. We went to work, 

 cut out the worst combs, and burned them ; 

 cleansed the hives, whitewashed them inside, 

 and sprinkled them and their combs with cop- 

 peras water, as a disinfectant. It served as a 

 check, and some appeared to be cured ; but 

 many are still aftected. Before putting them in 

 winter-quarters in my bee-cellar (which I de- 

 scribed in the Journal for March, 1870), I se- 

 cured a few new hives, and put the swarms in 

 as far as they would go. Then I cleansed the 

 emptied ones, scalded, whitewashed, sulphured, 

 and dried them, and so went through the yard. 

 I put a stove in my cellar, and heated and di'ied 

 it several days before putting away my bees, 

 November S.lth. It being a fine day yesterday, 

 March 7th, I took out my bees a month earlier 

 than usual, to cleanse the hives and the cellar. 

 I built a fire on the cellar floor to heat and dry 

 the cellar again. I shall cleanse the hives, and 

 as soon as it turns cold, put back the bees till 

 the willows blossom. I have tried this before ; 

 and they will be much more quiet and do better 

 than out of doors. The bees appear to be well. 

 There is no mould. There are no more dead 

 bees than usual, and neaz-ly every swarm has 

 brood. 



I have sent to Dr. Abbe for an atomizer, and 



