140 



April, 1909. 



(American Bcc Journal 



comb of brood with the adhering bees 

 from a healthy colony , and giving them 

 the queen from the diseased colony in 

 one or two days thereafter. I want the 

 queen to remain in the diseased colony, 

 caged, and the cage placed on top of 

 the frames where she can be got at with 

 the least trouble, so as to be given to 

 the new colony at the proper time. I 

 want the queen to remain as stated so 

 the bees therein w-ill not become excited 

 as when they find themselves queenlcss. 

 If the new colony is started in the fore- 

 noon, or when the bees are busy at 

 work, a good time to remove the queen 

 and let her run in at the entrance of 

 this colony is on the following day, and 

 near sundown. I also prefer to face 

 both colonies in opposite directions. 

 That is, set the prepared hive on the 

 foul-broody stand with the entrance the 

 same way, turn tlie diseased colony half- 

 way around, and leave the entrance 

 open. 



I do not find it necessary to use the 

 bee-escape at all when treating a number 

 of colonies, except in the final wind-up. 

 The bee-escape is of minor importance 

 in treating foul brood by my plan. The 

 main thing is to compel the bees in the 

 diseased hive to transfer themselves to 

 the new hive without taking with them 

 any diseased honey. They will do this 

 by manipulating, as I have stated. Sev- 

 eral diseased colonies, if they exist in 

 the apiary, may be treated in the same 

 way and at the same time. Then in the 

 course of a week or 10 days the diseased 

 colonies may be consolidated by piling 

 them up 2, 3, 4, 5 or more stories deep. 

 Then by using a bee-escape in front of 

 the bottom story, and locating the com- 

 bination by the side of a weak colony, 

 when they go out for any purpose, they 

 will be forced to go into the other col- 

 ony. 



There are divers ways to manipulate 

 the diseased colonies, but it is unneces- 

 sary for me to describe them all. The 

 getting rid of foul brood by my plan is 

 so simple that almost any one can treat 

 the disease successfully. 



I wish the reader would try my plan 

 and then report. If you wish more light 

 on this topic than is outlined in the fore- 

 going, please read my directions more in 

 detail on page 205 of the July issue of 

 the American Bee Journal for 1908. 



St. Charles, 111. 



[In order that our readers may have 

 Mr. Baldridge's plan of treating foul 

 brood right at hand, we have decided 

 to reproduce it once more, as follows : 

 — Editor.] 

 Baldridge P1.AN OF Tre.\ting Foul Brood. 



The Baldridge plan of treating a foul-broody 

 colony successfully is as follows: 



nst. Open the hive of the diseased colony 

 'and cage the queen. The best time to do this 

 is late in the afternoon or near sunset. Place 

 the caged queen in the top of the foul-broody 

 hive, and where the cage can be got at with 

 *s little trouble as possible. 



2d. Bore a small hole — about one inch in 

 diameter — in the front end of the foul-broody 

 hive a few inches above the regular entrance, 

 and fasten over it on the outside of the hive 

 a Porter bee-escape. After the bees are 

 through flying for the day turn the foul- 

 broody hive half way around so the bee-en- 

 trance will face the opposite direction. 



3d. Now go to some healthy colony and 

 select one or two combs of brood well cov- 

 ered with bees, and place them in an empty 

 hire and fill this hive with empty combs. 



frames of comb foundation, or empty frames, 

 and set this hive on the stand of the diseased 

 colony. The rear ends of both hives will 

 now touch each other, or they may be a few 

 inches apart. Now leave the hive thus, for 

 say 2, 3 or 4 days, or long enough for the 

 outdoor workers in the foul-broody colony to 

 return to their old location. This they will 



empty bodies and return with healthy honey. 

 .\11 the nurse-bees will remain in the diseased 

 colony, and before they pass out of their hive 

 through the bee-escape all germs in their bodies 

 will have been disposed of in nursing the 

 uncapped brood in the foul-broody colony. 



My plan of treating foul brood is not exact- 

 ly a new plan, as it was outlined by me in 



^^-:,^.rrw.^^ 



k^ W-^^ IM^^ 



Upper Fig.— Honky-House of C. I. Graham, Set Up for Operation. 

 Lower Fig.— Honey-House of H. T. Chrisman, and Extracting Crew. 



do, of course, and they will then remain in 

 the new hive, having one or two combs of 

 healthy brood. 



4th. Near sunset of the second or third 

 day take the caged queen away from the dis- 

 eased colony and simply let her run into 

 the entrance of the new hive. 



5th. Now close the regular entrance of the 

 foul-broody hive and all other exits except the 

 one through the bee-escape. Then gently place 

 this hive by the side of the new hive and 

 close to each other, the closer the better, with 

 both fronts facing the same way. Thereafter 

 the bees that hatch or fly out of *he dis- 

 eased colony must pass through or out of the 

 bee-escape, and as they can not return they 

 must and will go into the new hive. By this 

 means the new hive, in the course of 3 or 

 4 weeks, will secure all, or nearly all. the bees 

 and brood that were in the diseased colony, 

 and during this time, or for any length of time 

 thereafter, no robber-bees can gain entrance 

 there and carry away any diseased honey. 



This plan of treating foul-broody colonies 

 prevents all loss in bees, honey, or the build- 

 ing of new combs, and is a simple and practical 

 way of treating the disease. In some respects 

 the plan is a far better one than any other 

 I have seen described. 



My plan may be carried out in divers ways, 

 but it is not always best to describe such and 

 thereby confuse the reader. The entire plan 

 is based upon the well-known fact that foul 

 brood is a germ disease, and that the germs 

 may be taken into a new hive by the bees 

 filling their bodies with the diseased honey 

 deposited in the foul-broody hive. The disease 

 may likewise be taken into the new hive by 

 the nurse-bees. My plan does away with all 

 such danger, for when the diseased colony is 

 left undisturbed over night the bees re-de- 

 posit all their honey, and on going out to 

 work the following day they go out with 



1897, page 333, in the Bee-Keepers' Review. 

 Since that date I have treated a number of 

 foul-broody colonies by my plan, and always 

 with good success. I am advised that others 

 liave done likewise. 



M. M, Baldridge. 



Honey-Houses in California 



BY CH.\S. TROUT. 



It is by the means of the inovable 

 honey-house that our specialists ex- 

 tract such enonnous amounts of honey. 

 I will describe 2 of the most success- 

 ful houses I have seen : 



The upper figure is the e.xtracting 

 house of Mr. C. I. Graham. It con- 

 tains 2 4-frame extractors, and 2 cap- 

 ping tanks. The honey runs direct from 

 the extractor through pipes to the tank 

 on the outside. The house is built on 

 the bed of a strong wagon, with burlap 

 sides and tar-paper roof. It can be 

 drawn easily by 2 mules from yard to 

 yard. 



The lower figure shows the crew and 

 extracting house owned by H. T. and J. 

 Chrisman. This house is quite differ- 

 ent than Mr. Graham's. .\ space only 

 5 feet by the widtli of the wagon is 

 used for e.xtracting purposes. It con- 

 tains only one extractor and uncapping 



