AUGUST, 1920 



(] I, E A N I N (J S IN BEE C U L T V R E 



465 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



colony of bees and three to five piles of 

 suixMs to be cleaned. The platform is made 

 of matcheil lumber, and strips of lumber are 

 nailed to the platform in such a way that 

 thry will support tiie piles of supers and will 

 Mo*^ iillow a single r(d)ber bee access to the 



Another advantage of this plan is that the 

 bees will not leave ceils here and there con- 

 taining honey, but will thoroly clean out all 

 the honey from the combs and take it into 

 their hive. Chaa. D. Blaker. 



Minneapolis, Minn. 



The Deadman platform ready to rereive the supers 

 tilled with the sticky combs that are to be clcane 1. 



piles, and yet by means of bee-ways beneath 

 the strips supporting the supers will permit 

 the bees of the colony that is to clean the 

 super free access to all of the supers. The 

 colony cho.sen for this purpose should be a 

 strong two-story one and should have a very 

 small entrance, since robbers are more in- 

 clined to enter when combs are being 

 cleaned in this way. The supers may be 

 piled as high as five supers if desired. 



Mr. Deadman has recommended this plan 

 not only for getting sticky extracting combs 

 cleaned, but also for getting cleaned those 

 sections containing only a little honey, and 

 at the same time getting finished partly- 

 filled sections placed above the strong col- 

 ony. — Editor.] 



The writer is especially interested in the 

 plan because it helps to check the spread 

 of American foul brood in the individual 

 apiary. For instance, disease may be in the 

 immediate neighborhood and one does not 

 know to what extent his bees may have 

 brought in infected honey. After extract- 

 ing, instead of putting the wet combs back 

 indiscriminately on the hives, he can have 

 all of the combs cleaned up by one or two 

 colonies, according to the size of the apiary. 



DISEASE IN THE NORTHWEST 



How European Foul Brood Spreads and How It 

 Disappears 



Kuroi)ean foul brood, I am sure, is carried 

 into the hives from diseased material re- 

 moved from affected colonies. Recently I 

 inspected 40 colonies of bees that were 

 bought from a beekeeper 25 miles away. 

 These were clean, strong in bees, and in fine 

 shape; but in less than three weeks 36 of 

 these colonies showed European foul brood 

 — some more, some less.. In one week luore 

 the rest of the colonies developed it. The 

 thought occurred then, "Did it originate 

 here, or was it brought with them ? " A trip 

 to the apiary where they were secured solved 

 that question, as those not brought were as 

 clean as could be and in perfect condition. 

 There was only one conclusion, that the 



The Deadman i)latfonii with supers on. 



source of infection was here; but how and 

 what remained unanswered. The honey flow 

 was good; the water was running, not stag- 

 nant; there were no old empty hives ex- 



