lS8(i 



glea:nings ik bee culture. 



94r, 



new to him. IIo in-omisL'd tn ui:iLc < Aiiciiujuuts 

 with the carbolic-acid i-cmcdy, aud, if successful, to 

 give the results to tiio hpo-kcepinfj- world. As a 

 test, a diseased colony was selected and marked 

 for identiflcatioii, after which it was jilaccd in Mr. 

 Cheshire's care. .\ couple of months afterward it 

 was e.vamined by co'.npctent judges, who pronounc- 

 ed it healthy, and without the slig'h test trace of foul 

 brood. Mr. Cheshire jtave a very minute descrip- 

 tion of this disease, as well as directions for its 

 cure, in a paper which he read at a meeting: of the 

 JJritish Bee Association; and this paper, which 

 caused a good deal of sensation at the time, was re- 

 produced in several of the American bee-papers. 

 In the course of his investigations Mr. Cheshire 

 discovered that the statement, so often and so con- 

 fidently made, that the queen does not carry the in- 

 fection, is misleading, as he found the bacillus of 

 foul brood in the ovaries of several of the queens 

 he dissected in the course of his investigations. To 

 my mind, this discovery proves that, to destroy 

 foul brood in a colony having one of these diseased 

 ()ueens, her removal aud the substitution of a 

 healthy queen should be the first step, after which 

 the rest is easy. 



To return to my own case: In the month of July 

 I gave Ligurian queens lo throe of the four colo- 

 nies, the otlier having a lilack queen just beginniug 

 to lay. AlTweut merry as a marriage-be) 1 until the 

 time came to feed u|) for the wintei-, when I was 

 concerned to find that the Ligurian bees would not 

 touch syrup if it contained the least trace of car- 

 bolic acid, while tlie blacks took it without hesita- 

 tion. In the hope of compelling them to take it, I 

 allowed them to run almost to the starvation-point; 

 but in the end T was obliged to give them unmedi- 

 eated syrup, which they took freely. About the 

 middle of November I examined the four colonies, 

 and found the Ligurians had foul l)rood liadly, and 

 were verj- weak, while the blacks were strong and 

 perfectly healthy, and without the least unpleasant 

 smell. In the following February one of the Ligu- 

 rian colonies was dead, while the others were re- 

 tluced to a mere handful of bees; and as they were 

 not amenable to remedial treatment, I allowed 

 them to die out too. after which I sprayed the 

 comljs with carbolic solution, and disinfected the 

 hives with the apparatus 1 described a short time 

 since in Gleanings. The black colony came out 

 of winter quarters strong in bees, and since then I 

 have not had any trace of foul brood in my apiary. 

 1 attribute the outbreak of the disease in the Li- 

 gurian colonies to my not having disinfected the 

 hives, which were those in which diseased colonies 

 had previously wintered. 



The foi-egoing account is written from memory, 

 and on that account may seem open to objection. 

 When I begaji treating my bees for the disease 

 with salicylic acid I kept an accurate note of every 

 thing I did; but three years of unvarying failure 

 so discouraged me that I looked on taking notes as 

 pure waste of ink, not to speak of time and paper. 

 Besides, when I began the carbolic-acid treatment I 

 had no hope of being successful, and consequently 

 took very little interest in the matter. 



My recommendations to you would be remove the 

 queens of all your infected colonies, and to hand 

 them over for instant execution to the common 

 hangman. In their places I would introduce queens 

 reared in some apiary free from any suspicion of 

 'lisease. A number of outdooi- feeders <;hould be 



lilleii wiih honey or syrup; and when the bees be- 

 gin to feed freely, phenol (carbolic acid) should be 

 added in small but increasing doses, until the dose 

 is as strong as the bees will take it. I recommend 

 outdoor feeding, because 1 have found that bees 

 will often take feed that way when they would not 

 touch it if otVcred to them in the hives. If this 

 treatment is pursued systematically, I venture to 

 say that, before next summer, you will be rid of 

 foul brood. 



Your plan of disinfecting hi\ cs bj- means of a jet 

 of high-pressure steam, I think a capital <me, with- 

 out prejudice to my own apparatus for the same 

 purpose which was intended for that large and de- 

 serving class of bee-keepers who don't hajipen to 

 have steam-boilers at command. 



Nov., is,"(i. Robert Spuoui-k. 



Kichmond Road, Fairview, Co. Dublin, Ireland. 



Thanks, friend Sproiilo, for the results of 

 your experiments witii the plienol, or car- 

 bolic-acid, treatment. From our experi- 

 ence with the phase of the disease which 

 has visited us, we can not think that the 

 queen g'ives the disease. Of the sixty cases 

 of foul brood in our apiary, her majesty was 

 retained in all, after we had treated tlie col- 

 onies as we have liefore described. In not 

 one has the disease reappeared. Surely, 

 then, the queen would have yiven the dis- 

 ease, at least in a few instances, if it were 

 possible. It may be, that the most advanc- 

 ed stages of foiil l)rood might alfect the 

 queen, for we have not allowed a colony to 

 be diseased long in oiu' apiary. 



• — — i i — » ^1 



THE NEW HEDDON HIVE. 



FKIENI) HU'rrniNSON,S REPORT IN REGARD TO IT. 



T PRESUME many will bi 

 lllj' I think of the new H 



Jl I have used it two 

 "^ it exactly as I did w 



e pleased to know what 

 Heddon hive, now that 

 two j-ears. I think of 

 actly as I did when Mr. 'Heddon first 

 explained to me its construction and advan- 

 tages. 1 lay no claims to superior wisdom; but 

 when a man has studied and practiced bee culture, 

 working with his whole heart in the business, and 

 with wits sharpened by the fact that he ;iii(.i/ suc- 

 ceed or wife and babies will go hungrj' or cold; I 

 say, when a man has worked this waj- for ten yeai-s, 

 as I have done, he can form a very nearly correct 

 opinion of any new feature in bee-keeping without 

 even trying it. There are, however, " weak spots " 

 in the best of inventions, defects that even the 

 brightest and most experienced fail to discern, and 

 that nothing short of actual trial will point out. It 

 was these" weak spots" that I feared in the " new 

 hive;" that I have watched for with the closest of 

 scrutiny; and the nearest approach to one that 1 

 have found is the use of compression for holding 

 the frames Iti position when inverted. As I learn- 

 ed how to manage, however, 1 had less and less 

 trouble, and I think I shall have none hereafter. 



J tlnd thiit inverting will do all that has been 

 claimed for it— secure frames full of combs; clear 

 the brood-nest of honey; hasten the completion ol 

 sections, enable us to rear large (luantities of brood 

 in a comparatively small hive, and to choose wheth- 

 er we shall have brood-chambers full of honey at 

 the end of the season, or the opposite. 



I have learned, though, that alternating the hori' 

 ^^ontal sections of the hive will aeenmpUsh nearly 



