1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



565 



When using bisulphide, the length of time 

 necessary to expose the combs to its fumes de- 

 pends upon how tight the box or whatever is 

 used to treat them in can be closed, and its 

 size — no matter, though, how long brood- 

 combs are exposed to these fumes, it does not 

 injure them in the least ; but as a matter of 

 economy merely, one would not desire to treat 

 them for a longer length of time than is nec- 

 essary, and this is an easy matter to tell ; for 

 if, upon lifting out one of the combs, and one 

 dead worm is found, they are all dead, for 

 this stuff shows no favor, but kills all, big or 

 little, alike, and at the same or very nearly the 

 same time. It is entirely different in this re- 

 spect from the fumes of sulphur, for with sul- 

 phur, as those who have used it have probably 

 noticed, the small worms are killed in much 

 less time than the large ones ; and if, as my 

 experiments last summer lead me to believe, 

 there is one grade or kind of bisulphide that 

 will not injure section hone}', it will be a great 

 boon to bee-keepers in localities where moth- 

 worms are as troublesome as they are here, 

 for, except when they are quite small, it is 

 impossible to kill them in comb honey with 

 the fumes of sulphur unless the combs are 

 treated long enough to become discolored, 

 which, in the case of section honey, may in- 

 jure or prevent its sale altogether ; and after 

 worms reach a certain size, say one inch in 

 length, it is impossible to kill them at all with 

 sulphur unless the combs they are in are treat- 



ed so long that they become fairly green in 

 color. But for some reason moth-worms de- 

 velop much more rapidly in brood-combs than 

 they do in section honey. On this account it 

 is not so difficult a matter to keep the latter 

 free of them by the use of sulphur, provided 

 they are treated in time, and often enough so 

 the worms do not reach much size ; for when 

 the worms are very small they can be killed 

 by the fumes of sulphur without discoloring 

 the combs in the least ; but sulphur has no ef- 

 fect on the moth-eggs, and the great advan- 

 tage of bisulphide to treat brood-combs is that 

 it kills the eggs also, so only one treatment is 

 necessary if the combs are afterward put 

 where the moth -miller does not have access to 

 them. 



It seems to me that The A. I. Root Co. 

 should investigate in regard to whether there 

 is one kind that will not injure comb honey ; 

 and if so, keep it in stock so bee-keepers 

 could, when ordering, have a can or two put 

 in with their supplies, as many druggists do 

 not keep it on hand. But possibly the forma- 

 lin Rambler spoke of might serve us as a moth- 

 worm killer better yet. I was reading in a 

 paper some time ago that it was used at nearly 

 all the large libraries in the United States and 

 Europe as a means of disinfecting books ; but 

 the druggist here had never even heard of it, 

 nor was I able to procure any in several large 

 towns in which I was last fall. 



Southern Minn. 



THE RAUCHFUSS BROS.' TENEMENT HIVE. SEE EDITORIAI^. 



