AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



765 



found the same rotten and stinking 

 matter in the center of the brood-cham- 

 ber, in some of the combs, that I had 

 seen in the hives that I cleaned out the 

 previous spring when 1 lost all I had. 

 Then, and not until then, did it dawn 

 upon my mind that my bees had the 

 disease called " foul brood," and you 

 may imagine I was sick. 



My first decision was to pile all my 

 hives and bees (of which I had then 

 some 7 colonies), and burn them up, in- 

 cluding all the fixtures, and plow up the 

 yard, and then begin anew. But upon 

 thinking it all over carefully, and be- 

 coming convinced that I would not be 

 afe even by doing so, as I would be just 

 as liable to get the disease among my 

 bees as I was before, as I did not know 

 from whence it came in the first place ; 

 so I then and there concluded to fight 

 the disease to the bitter end. 



I looked up all the bee-literature I 

 could, and corresponded with some that 

 I knew had some experience with foul 

 brood, one of which was Mr. J. E. Pond, 

 of Massachusetts, who very kindly of- 

 fered me all the information he could 

 give on the subject of foul brood, for 

 which I hope he will accept thanks even 

 at this late date. 



I tried all the remedies I saw recom- 

 mended, and also some of my own get 

 up, and I am glad to say that I have 

 succeeded, and that I have kept right on 

 increasing my colonies, although I lost 

 quite a few colonies, and would still lose 

 them if I did not notice the disease until 

 it was too late in the season to treat 

 them. Still, I never destroyed any of 

 the fixtures, such as hives and frames, 

 but used them, and have many a colony 

 in hives that were rotten with foul brood 

 some years ago. I have colonies of bees 

 that had the disease some years ago, 

 that are in good condition for winter 

 now. One colony that I now have, has 

 no less than 40 pounds of honey in the 

 hive, and in prime condition, that some 

 years ago was rotten with foul brood 

 early in the season, so that it was all 

 they could do to increase and gather 

 enough stores to winter on ; that colony 

 stored 28 sections of comb honey, which 

 was mostly No. 1, and some sections 

 would pass for " extra fancy," which, for 

 this season, in this locality, is a big 

 thing. 



I also have evidence to show that a 

 queen reared in a foul-broody colony 

 will live more than one year ; that is, as 

 far as the disease is concerned. I also 

 know from what experience I have had, 

 that there is not a particle of danger in 



using comb foundation that is made 

 from wax rendered from foul-broody 

 combs, if not afterwards exposed to the 

 disease. 



Now, if any of the readers think that 

 it is not the real foul brood that 

 I had to contend with, I would again 

 refer them, for the description of the 

 disease, to my article in the American 

 Bee Journal for March 16, 1889, as 

 aforesaid. 



In conclusion, I would say that with 

 what experience I have had with the 

 disease, if the lime of season was May 

 1st, and I had no bees, and wanted to 

 get some, and one man offered me 20 

 colonies of black bees in box-hives for a 

 certain amount, and those bees were in 

 a healthy condition ; and another man 

 had 20 colonies of Italian bees in mov- 

 able frame hives, but the bees were all 

 more or less effected with foul brood, 

 which I could have for the same amount 

 that I was asked for the healthy black 

 bees in box-hives, I should take the foul- 

 broody bees in movable-frame hives in 

 preference to the healthy bees in box- 

 hives, as it would cost me less to rid the 

 bees of the foul brood disease than it 

 would to purchase new hives and fixtures 

 and transfer the bees to the new hives 

 from the box-hives. 



Taylor Centre, Mich., Nov. 16, 1892. 



Bees at an Experiment Station — 

 Taking Bees from a House. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY PROF. C. L. STRICKLAND. 



The bees at the Experiment Station 

 are once more put away to take that 

 peculiar rest. If in a state insuring 

 solid comfort, I am glad the industrious 

 little creatures have a period of rest 

 from their incessant toil. It does my 

 soul good to view them behind those 

 board walls, facing the east, with cush- 

 ions on just above the brood-nest, for 

 surely with good stores close at hand, 

 they must be at peace. We don't need 

 a bee-cellar here. 



The results of bee-work at this Station 

 have been encouraging from the start, 

 and I believe has a promising future, 

 though only two years old. More and 

 more alfalfa is being sowed, and that in- 

 sures a crop of honey, with reasonable 

 conditions. 



BEE» IN THE SIDE OF A HOUSE. 



Just the other day a man called and 

 wanted me to take a colony of bees out 



