130 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Mar. 1 



only from the inside! When we say Flori- 

 da is the land of tree honey we mean it; it 

 is literally true. Four-fifths of all the sur- 

 plus honey produced in the State comes 

 from the blossoms of nectar-producing trees 

 or shrubs, not flowering plants. 

 De Land, Fla. 



To be continued. 



EUROPEAN FOUL BROOD. 



Curative Measures; How to Proceed in a Lar^e 

 Apiary Run for Extracted Honey. 



BY F. B. CAVANAGH. 



Continued from last issue, page 109. 



Having observed the importance of Part 

 1, or ridding the hive of diseased material, 

 and Part 2, establishing immunity in all 

 colonies in the apiary, let us now consider 

 how we can accomplish these ends effectu- 

 ally with the least financial loss and incon- 

 venience. Assuming that you are a wide- 

 awake bee-keeper, which means that you 

 have discovered the disease within a few 

 weeks of its development, it is improbable 

 that more than one-third to one-half of the 

 colonies in the yard are affected. Such be- 

 ing the case, the following I believe to be the 

 most economical and safest treatment. 



Inspect the entire yard at the first sign of 

 the honey-flow, being careful, of course, not 

 to excite robbing, and mark all the hives 

 with indelible crayon, indicating the mild 

 cases by one cross, the bad cases by two, 

 and the healthy colonies, O. K. Double or 

 treble up all badly diseased or weak hives 

 at the time of inspection, as we want them 

 strong to begin with, so that they can spare 

 their brood without bad effects. Also remove 

 these queens as soon* as possible, for they 

 are worthless and a detriment to the clean- 

 ing-up process. 



As soon as the honey-flow is sufficiently 

 good, start enough queen-cells from the best 

 yellow three-banded stock that you can get, 

 to requeen the entire yard. When the cells 

 are ready to introduce, make up enough 

 strong nuclei to supply the healthy colonies 

 with queens, and isolate them from the rest 

 of the apiary (for they are more easily in- 

 fected than strong colonies) , or mate your 

 queens in the full colonies if you prefer. 



The honey-flow now being in full blast, 

 the once "bad cases " very strong, and hav- 

 ing been queenless at least nine days, brush 

 each of these colonies on to full sheets of 

 foundation and one comb containing some 

 healthy unsealed brood and honey, and a 

 protected queen-cell. The full sheets pre- 

 vent drone comb, and there is no danger 

 now of developing any disease in the single 

 comb left, every available cell of which will 

 be filled with honey or polished up for the 

 new queen. 



Place the brood-nests over strong healthy 

 colonies having their queen confined below. 

 It matters not how many partly filled su- 

 1 ers of honey we have^between the regular 



brood-nest and the annexed brood-nest, 

 which now becomes an extracting-super. 



The brood-nests which become extracting- 

 supers should never be extracted until all 

 brood is hatched and the cells filled with 

 honey. The pollen will be used up by this 

 time in most cases, and the combs, when 

 dry, will be perfectly safe to use under any 

 circumstances. You will understand that 

 we have nothing in particular to fear from 

 infected honey at this season, when immu- 

 nity is established by the heavy honey-flow; 

 hence the uselessness of twice shaking. Our 

 aim is, in removing the honey, to fortify 

 against reinfection from this source when 

 the season arrives for susceptibility. 



Next requeen the slightly infected cases 

 in which the disease has probably by this 

 time disappeared by giving protected cells 

 in place of the queens. At the next extract- 

 ing, when it is time for the young queens to 

 be laying, put the extracting-supers below 

 the brood-nest, throwing plenty of grass on 

 the entrance to prevent robbing until the 

 bees discover the new order of things. A 

 day or two later, brush these colonies down, 

 placing an excluder to confine the queen in 

 the lower story. If the colonies are strong 

 and the honey-flow good, the bees will be 

 crowded below with the young queen, which 

 will gladly accept the situation. Use the 

 exchanged brood-nest as the future extract- 

 ing-super, which will soon be filled with 

 honey. 



The healthy colonies will now have to be 

 requeened; and, disagreeable as I know it to 

 be, it is necessary to lift off those three or 

 four supers and hunt up the old queen. 

 The nuclei containing young laying queens 

 may be united with the healthy colonies 

 after two days' queenlessness by placing the 

 combs, with bees thereon, in the full hive. 



You have, no doubt, been wondering why 

 I advocate brushing instead of shaking. 

 Well, for one thing it is less cruel. The 

 treatment, given as it is, early in the hon- 

 ey-flow, when the nectar is thin and easily 

 shaken out, fills the breathing orifices of 

 the bees, no doubt causing them useless 

 suffering if no other bad effects. 



Brush the bees down out of the supers or 

 bodies, as described in the Bee-keepers^ He- 

 view in 1909. Placing the brood-nest to be 

 cleared of bees above the prepared empty 

 hive, remove a comb from the side nearest 

 you; brush the bees in front of the alighting- 

 board, and cover the comb securely. With 

 a Coggshall bee-brush in the right hand, 

 and the smoker held suspended between 

 your body and the hive, the left hand, is 

 now free to space the combs toward the op- 

 erator. First, smoke the bees down while 

 breaking the frames loose; next, pocket the 

 hive- tool and in turn brush the inside of the 

 hive nearest you, and each alternate space 

 between combs, twisting the brush enough 

 to reach both sides of the combs adjacent at 

 once. In our apiaries we work rapidly, us- 

 ing a series of gentle vibrations of the brush, 

 which fans and distributes the small amount 

 of smoke used just where we want it, instant 



