1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



347 



11. That apart, however, from experienced 

 bee-keepers or trained experts, very few are 

 fortunate enough to detect the disease at such 

 an early stage, or effect a cure so easily. 



12. That when the combs have irregular 

 patches of brood, with sunken and perforated 

 cappings to the cells containing the putrid, 

 coffee-colored, ropy mass inside, the treatment 

 should be : 



a. If the colony be weak, destruction of 

 bees, combs, frames, and quilts, together with 

 thorough disinfection of hives, is by far the 

 best course to pursue. We thus destroy the 

 spores, and so remove the source of infection. 



b. If, on the contrary, the colony be still 

 strong, the bees may be preserved by making 

 an artificial swarm of them, and feeding them 

 on medicated syrup for 48 hours, after which 

 time they can be placed in a clean hive fur- 

 nished with sheets of foundation, and fed 

 with medicated syrup for a few days longer. 

 The combs, frames, and quilts are burned, and 

 the hive disinfected by being either steamed 

 or scrubbed with boiling water and soap, and 

 then painted over w ith a solution of carbolic 

 acid ; and when the smell has disappeared, 

 the hive is ready for use. (The bees are al- 

 lowed to remain 48 hours in the empty hive, 

 for by that time the hone}' that they may have 

 taken with them, and which might contain 

 spores, will have been consumed, and the dis- 

 eased bees will have died off. ) 



13. That in his endeavors to rid his apiary 

 of foul brood, the bee-keeper must also raise 

 to its proper standard the lowered vitality of 

 the bees which enabled the disease to get a 

 footing. This he must do by keeping his bees 

 strong with young and prolific queens, good 

 wholesome food, cleanliness, and proper ven- 

 tilation. 



14. That the bee-keeper may himself be a 

 cause of spreading foul brood by indiscrimi- 

 nately manipulating, first diseased and then 

 healthy hives, without taking the precaution 

 to disinfect himself or his appliances. Clothes, 

 appliances, and hands should be washed with 

 carbolic soap, and other articles disinfected by 

 spraying with some suitable disinfectant. 



These are only a few of the many diiBcul- 

 ties, and only the fringe of the subject has 

 been touched upon ; but sufficient has been 

 said to show that, unless great precautions are 

 taken, it is very difficult to get rid of the dis- 

 ease. It thus becomes obvious that those who 

 fail to realize the danger of infection, and who 

 will not take proper means of ridding their 

 apiaries of foul brood, or of preventing its in- 

 troduction, are a real danger to the industry. 



[No. 5 should be read very carefully by ev- 

 ery bee-keeper, because it is a fact that many 

 of them do not or will not understand the first 

 principles with regard to all contagious dis- 

 eases. Indeed the whole article will bear 

 careful reading. — Ed.] 



C. R. 3T., Texas. — As yet we know of no re- 

 liable cure for bee-paralysis. The best I can 

 advise you is to destroy the queen and then 

 put the bees on clean combs or frames of 

 foundation with good food. 



SHOP-TALKS. 



Why Bees Swarm. 



BY UNCI^E USHA. 



I had just got my fire built, and my work- 

 shop was warming up, when who should drop 

 in but Deacon Strong, with a cordial good 

 morning ? 



" Good morning, deacon ; glad to see you." 



" Thought I would just step in and inquire 

 how your bees were wintering." 



" Pretty well, deacon, I think. I was out 

 to my north yard the other day, and looked 

 them over. Thieves have been at work there 

 some, and there were a good many colonies 

 that were pretty weak, and they were packed 

 when the weather was warm, and I was afraid 

 there were a good many that were not crowded 

 up close enough, and I was glad I went. Bees 

 are now clustered so close I could tell to a dot 

 just how strong they were, and I had occasion 

 to take out a good many combs of honey, and, 

 with an extra division-board, reduce the brood- 

 chamber to four or five combs. The bees 

 would have had hard work to pull through if 

 I had not looked after them." 



" Why," said the deacon, " I never heard of 

 any one doing that before in winter." 



" Well, I never did either ; but a bee-keep- 

 er has got to be on the iookout or he is very 

 liable to meet with loss." 



The deacon hacked and coughed a little, 

 and then began : 



" I liked what you said in GIvEanings about 

 improving bees so as to get more honey. It 

 is a pretty good idea if it can be done ; but 

 I think you were a little hard on Culley. I 

 think just as Doolittle does. Bees were told 

 to multiply and replenish the earth as well as 

 every thing else, and they are going to swarm 

 when they feel like it, and you can't help it." 



"Yes," said I, rather slowly and softly, for 

 the deacon has the reputation of being rather 

 set in his ways, and pretty quick-tempered as 

 well. " Yes, we read in the first chapter of 

 Genesis how, when the whales and every thing 

 that moveth through the seas, and the fowls 

 of the air, were created, they were told to 

 multiply and replenish the earth ; but nothing 

 was said to the bees about it. Bees are not 

 fowls nor whales, nor do they live in the sea." 



The deacon is pretty well up in Scripture, 

 and, quick as a flash, he said, "Wasn't Noah 

 commanded to bring every thing out of the 

 ark, the fowls and cattle, and every thing that 

 creepeth on the earth, that they might breed 

 and multiply abundantly ? Doesn't that in- 

 clude the bees? " 



" Well, deacon," said I, " I believe you are 

 right ; there is in bees an instinct or impulse 

 to increase the number of their colonies by 

 swarming. It is as much a part of their na- 

 ture as it is to gather honey or care for their 

 brood. And that's the mischief of it. Swarm 

 they will. If our honey harvest comes with 

 basswood we could get them up, old stocks 

 and new ones, ready for it ; but when it comes 

 with raspberry and white clover, by the time 

 the bees get ready to do much in supers the 

 harvest is over. I believe some years I could 



