BEES 



597 



of newspapers may come next outside the 

 cloth covering of the framework. Wheat 

 chaff answers well to complete the pack- 

 ing. AVool is to be preferred, but is of 

 course too expensive unless a waste 

 product. Ground cork, waste flax, hemp, 

 sawdust, etc., in fact, any fine porous ma- 

 terial, if thoroughly dry, may be used. 



A board passageway three or four 

 inches wide and three-eighths of an inch 

 high should connect this inner apartment 

 and the flight hole of the outer case, thus 

 affording an exit for the bees whenever 

 the weather may permit them to fly. 

 When these preparations have been com- 

 pleted, the hive is ready for the combs, 

 which, with adhering bees, are taken 

 from the summer hive and inserted in 

 the winter hive. A quilt is then laid on 

 the frames and the top packing put on. 

 This, for convenience, may be held in a 

 cloth-bottomed tray. It is quite impor- 

 tant as already mentioned, that air be 

 allowed to circulate freely above the 

 packing. The outside case must be quite 

 rainproof or else wholly protected from 

 the rain by a roof. 



All other necessary conditions having 

 been complied with shortly after the 

 gathering season closed, the combs may 

 be lifted from the summer hives and 

 placed in these specially arranged winter 

 cases before cold weather wholly stops 

 the bees from flying out. Thus prepared 

 for the winter the colonies will need but 

 slight attention from October until 

 March, or, in the North, even later, and 

 the losses will be limited to the small per- 

 centage of cases due to failure of appar- 

 ently good queens. 



The Risk of Loss Tbrongli Disease and 

 Enemies 



Winter losses through disease superin- 

 duced by unfavorable surroundings which 

 it is within the power of the bee keeper 

 to avoid have already been considered. 

 But one other very serious disease has 

 been widespread. 



Foul Brood or Baeillns of tbe Hive 



This is a highly contagious affection 

 which, as it mainly affects the developing 

 brood in the cells, is commonly known as 

 "foul brood." It is due to a microbe 



(Bacillus alvei) whose spores are easily 

 transported from hive to hive by the bees 

 themselves, by the operator, in honey, or 

 in combs changed from one hive to an- 

 other. Once established in an apiary, it 

 usually spreads, unless speedily and ener- 

 getically checked, until all of the colonies 

 in the neighborhood are ruined and even 

 exterminated. The most apparent symp- 

 toms are the turning black of larvae in 

 open cells, many sealed cells with sunken 

 caps, frequently broken in and containing 

 dead larvae or pupae in a putrid condi- 

 tion, brown or coffee-colored, jelly-like or 

 ropy in consistency, and giving off an 

 offensive odor. The disease, though known 

 to exist in nearly all countries, can hardly 

 be said to be common. The writer, in an 

 experience of over 30 years in bee keeping 

 in several states of the Union, as well as 

 in a number of foreign countries, has 

 met the disease but rarely, and has had 

 but one experience with it in his own 

 apiary, it having been in this instance 

 brought in by a neighbor who purchased 

 bees at a distance. It was easily cured, 

 without great loss. Thus the beginner's 

 risks of disaster in this direction are, if 

 he be forewarned, comparatively small. 

 He may, furthermore, gain assurance 

 from the fact that, should the disease in- 

 vade his apiary, prompt and intelligent 

 action will prevent serious loss. 



The following is the treatment for a 

 colony which still has sufficient strength 

 of numbers to be worth saving: The bees 

 are to be shaken from their combs just 

 at nightfall into an empty box, which is 

 to be removed at once to a cool, dark 

 place. They are to be confined to the 

 box, but it must be well ventilated 

 through openings covered with wire cloth. 

 During the first 48 hours no food should 

 be given to them, and during the second 

 48 hours onl.v a small amount of medicat- 

 ed syrup — a half pint daily for a small 

 colony to a pint for a strong one. This 

 food is prepared by adding one part of 

 pure carbolic acid or phenol to 600 or 700 

 parts of sugar syrup or honey. At the 

 end of the fourth day the bees are to be 

 shaken into a clean hive supplied with 

 starters of comb foundation. This hive is 

 to be placed outside on a stand some dis- 



