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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



August 25. 



pared for market. The best sections will be those in which 

 the comb is built up to the sides and filled with honey. Such 

 sections, if also evenly and rather thickly capt, will not only 

 bd the most attractive, but they will also keep and travel best. 

 Markets near home are desirable, and generally friends 

 and neighbors become ready purchasers when they find they 

 can depend upon tlie quality of the honey. The next custo- 

 mers to whom we must turn are the middlemen in the form of 

 shop-keepers, but all bee keepers would act wisely in joining 

 a county association, for they would then be able to assist in 

 the establisliment of depots for the sale of members" honey. In 

 tills case it is usual to liave a county label, and as each one 

 bears a number it is an easy matter to check any attempt to 

 lower the reputation of the county honey. Many associations 

 have lately followed the lead of the Berkshire Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, and been most successful in a work that is of the 

 utmost importance to those members at least who reside some 

 distance from towns, or fail to find a market for their produce 

 near home. 



DISEASES — DYSENTERY. 



In dealing with feeding, one disease — dysentery — has 

 already been referred to as likely to be caused by leaving in 

 the hive a large quantity of thin, unsealed food when the col- 

 ony is being closed up for winter. The disease being caused 

 by improper food and damp surroundings need not exist ex- 

 cept in apiaries carelessly managed. The food the bees take 

 during their confinement acts injuriously upon them, and in- 

 stead of t-eing able almost wholly to remain in a state of com- 

 fort until fine weather gives the opportunity for a cleansing 

 flight, they void the excrement on the combs and create sur- 

 roundings that ultimately cause the loss of the colony. If found 

 ont in time the hive might be moved into a warm room so that 

 a re-arrangement of the brood-nest might be effected. The 

 worst combs should be taken away and destroyed, or cleansed 

 if others cannot be supplied ; then, having made their home 

 as sweet and clean as possible, a pint of warm syrup may be 

 given, to be followed by a good cake of candy. If kept in a 

 warm room for the night the bees would be able to arrange 

 their food and themselves for the out-door temperature, what- 

 ever it might then be. 



FOUI. BROOD. 



There is, unfortunately, one disease to which bees are 

 subject, and if it once finds lodgment in an apiary it is liable, 

 and almost certain, to spread like wild-tire throughout the 

 apiaries of the whole neighborhood. Foul brood (Bacillus 

 nlvei) is a germ disease — that Is, like the diseases to which 

 human beings are liable, it is caused by the presence and 

 growth of a germ or seed of minute proportions. The disease 

 is spread from apiary to apiary chiefly, if not wliolly, by care- 

 lessness or ignorance In introducing colonies standing in a dis- 

 eased apiary or in an infected district, that are either diseased 

 or have in them germs that subsequently find a suitable 

 medium in whicli to germinate. In those districts where the 

 disease has not yet shown Itself bee-keepers cannot be too 

 careful in obtaining fresh swarms or colonies from districts 

 that are known to be quite free from the disease. 



The first symptoms of foul brood are only noticeable to 

 the expert on examining the combs in the brood-chamfer. 

 The grubs, when attackt, turn a yellowish color and stretcli 

 out in their cells instead of being a pearly white and curh'd 

 up at the bottom. They are then a prey to the multitude uf 

 bacilli produced from the germs,and when the nutrient matter 

 is all consumed the bacilli die, leaving behind them Innumer- 

 able germs to spread the disease whenever they fall into a 

 proper medium. 



A bad case is easily recognized by the stench arising from 

 the hive and given off by the state of rottenness within. On 

 examining the combs the open cells will be found to contain a 

 dark coffee-colored substance of a stringy and sticky nature, 

 while those sealed over will be pierced with irregular-shai»-d 

 holes, and appear sunken instead of exhibiting the prominent 

 and rounded appearance so characteristic of liealthy capt 

 brood. 



With these instructions as a guide the novice should have 

 no difficulty in detecting a case of foul brood in any of its 

 stages. Whenever a case is found, the hive should be in- 

 stantly closed and every precaution taken to prevent other 

 colonies robbing it. At the close of the day, when the bees 

 have about ceast work, it should be thoroughly overhauled. 

 The best plan to adopt would be to obtain a clean hive, place 

 in it fresh combs. If there are any on hand, then shake the 

 bees from their frames on the alighting-board of the clean 

 hive which should stand in the place of the affected colony. 

 Let the bees run in, and then, if there are not sufficient 

 frames, add to the number from another hive as many, free 

 from signs of disease, as will compel the bees to be crowded, 



for under such conditions remedial measures are more likely 

 to have a proper effect. 



When the bees have settled themselves among the combs, 

 syrup should be given which has been medicateid with naphthol 

 beta or izal. A shilling's worth of the former will be sufficient 

 to medicate a' out l-i'l pounds of syrup. Izal should be given 

 in the proportion of a quarter of an ounce (fluid) to 15 pounds 

 of honey or syrup. This treatment must be carried on thor- 

 oughly in the case of every affeyJ,ecl;*^filony, and the result will 

 doubtless be that In a season, the apiary will be quite rid of 

 the pest. Absolute cleanliness in the apiary is imperative. 

 The hives from which the bees have been removed must not be 

 allowed to stand about while they are holding diseased combs 

 and harboring germs. The frames, comi.s, quilts, and other 

 movable parts of the hives should the same evening be put 

 upon a bonfire and not left until- every scrap is consumed. 



As a means of precaution against the Introduction of the 

 disease, and also to stop its progress when once it appears in 

 a hive, an antiseptic should always be used. The best for the 

 purpose is naphthaline — albo-carbon — usually sold in Ijalls 

 about the size of marbles. Two, split and dropt between the 

 combs at the < ack of the hive, on the floor-board, constitute a 

 proper quantity to be given at one time. As they disappear, 

 which they do like camphor, tliey should be replaced with a 

 fresh supply, but one dose will last a long time. The fumes 

 given off i y the uaphthallne are deadly to the bacilli : there- 

 fore, if only this treatment is continued and the hives are kept 

 scrupulously clean, the disease may be kept in check. 



IConcIuded next weekl 



" Pickled Brood " and •« Bee-Paralysis." 



BY DK. WM. B. HOWARD. 



These maladies have for years haunted the bee-keepers 

 with their mysterious appearance, and ghost-like disappear- 

 ance. "Pickled brood" has only recently been separated 

 from " foul brood," and " paralysis," for years the destroyer 

 of apiaries, remains to-day one of the unsolved problems In 

 the way of successful and progressive apiculture. For nat- 

 ural reasons these diseases are not so extensive In the South 

 as In the North. 



About four years ago I kept a few colonies in my own 

 yard, and had my first experience with " pickled brood," and 

 In the American Bee Journal for Sept. 10, 1896, the first 

 account of this disease was publlsht. In this contribution a 

 full natural history, including the differences between " pick- 

 led brood " and " foul brood," with illustrations and details 

 was given. Since this was written I have carefully Investi- 

 gated the subsequent cases coming under my observation, and 

 have developt, or rather discovered, other Interesting and 

 valuable facts. I find that not only the larvfe and pupaj are 

 affected, but that many young bees hatching and crawling 

 about for some time become aftilcted and die by the thousands ; 

 and many are carried from the hive while yet alive. 



Again, I have examined hundreds of old bees from the 

 same yard and from the same hive, when there appeared to be 

 an epidemic of destruction prevailing in certain Isolated colo- 

 nies — not only In the yard affected — and have found, after the 

 most careful research (using the same strict laboratory 

 technique practiced in bacteriological experiments), that these 

 old bees were suffering from the same disease, so far as could 

 be definitely determined. The spores producing the same 

 fungus were found, and no other disease-producing element 

 was developt. Now, that old bees suffering from this trouble 

 has been taken for paralysis, I have not a doubt, and that 

 many of the symptoms ascribed to paralysis by some of the 

 writers, are so nearly In accord with those I have noticed In 

 these cases, further evidences the fact that they have been 

 considered Identical. There Is one symptom always noticed 

 in this trouble with perfect or old bees, that Is, they appear as 

 If they had been frozen and were just able to move a foot or 

 leg when disturbed : even young bees just hatching fall to the 

 bottom-board unable to crawl. 



There are certain conditions, In common, present, which 

 aid In the production or development and maintenance of these 

 diseases : 



1. Old, moldy pollen In the hive. 



2. The absence of fresh pollen. 



3. The proper amount of heat and moisture, which always 

 obtains in a prosperous colony. 



■i. Brood-rearing actively going on. 



5. Cold or rainy weather, which prevents the bees from 

 flying out. 



6. A dearth of natural pollen In the fields, from late frosts 

 or continued heavy rains. 



