388 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Cure for Foul Brood. 



T. "\V. Cowan, Esq.. of Loudon. 

 England, lately visited the apiary of 

 Mons. Ed. Bertrand, located at Al- 

 levays, in the Alps, Switzerland. 

 Mons. Bertrand claims to have suc- 

 cessfully cured '• foul brood " there, 

 and Mr. T.VV. Cowan details the way in 

 which it was done, in the following 

 article from the British Bee Journal : 



Allevays is situated at a height of 

 2112 feet, and is distant about six 

 miles from Nyon, on the road to St. 

 Cergues, on the Jura mountains. The 

 scenery was very pieturesque.and as we 

 rose higher and higher, first one peak 

 and then another of the Mont Blanc 

 range came in view. On our arrival 

 at Allevays, we were met by two En- 

 glish gentlemen who had been at- 

 tracted thither by seeing the view of 

 the apiary which appeared some time 

 since in the British Bee Journal. This 

 apiary, as will be seen by referring to 

 the accompanying picture, is situated 



vides the apiary, Layens hives being 

 on the left, and" Dadant hives on the 

 right, so that by working the two 

 systems together a comparison might 

 be made ; there being about 50 hives 

 in the enclosure. In front of the 

 apiary are small flr-trees destined to 

 attract the swarms, and borders con- 

 taining experimental plantations of 

 honey-yielding plants, such as scro- 

 phularia, yellow and white melilot, 

 borage, phacelia, alsike clover, and 

 others. 



This is a good neighborhood for the 

 bees, for in the spring they find pollen 

 on the willows, maples, nuts, and 

 colt's-foot, and honey on the maples 

 and wild cherry trees ; later, on the 

 cultivated espareet, wild sage, and 

 the flowers of the pastures. After 

 the grass is mown, there are the lime- 

 trees, raspberries, wild thyme, golden- 

 rod, astrantia, and others. Tliis apiary 

 is one of the few which yield a regular 

 and constant return ; it sliows that its 

 owner is a thoroughly practical as 

 well as scientific apiarist. 



M. Bertrand is editor of the Bulletin 

 (V Apiculture pour la Suisse Romande. 



Mij)ts. Bt:rh'(uid's Apiar;/. in the ii'ic/.s.s Alps. 



on the borders of the forest, and is 

 enclosed in the American style. The 

 hives are detached, each benig on its 

 own stand, the floor-boards close to 

 the ground, similar to the hives used 

 by me. They are well sheltered from 

 the winds by the forest which extends 

 on three sides. The hives are about 

 6 feet apart, in rows, the distance be- 

 tween each row being about 10 feet. 

 In front of the hives, here and there, 

 are planted shrubs which serve as 

 guides to the bees to mark their 

 homes. In the centre of the apiary 

 is seen a shed, which is used for mani- 

 pulation, and as a store and extract- 

 ing room. It contains hives, frames, 

 a cupboard for combs, and even in tlie 

 ridge there is a bed which has been 

 useful to its owner when he has been 

 kept late at work with his bees. 



From the windows there is a splen- 

 did panorama of Lake Leman and the 

 Alps. These windows are of peculiar 

 construction, being made to reverse 

 on pivots at the top and bottom, so 

 that bv merely turning them any bees 

 that liad gotten inside the shed and 

 flown on the glass, could be turned out 

 without anv difticulty. A wide patli di- 



which is. without exception, the best 

 and most progressive journal in the 

 French language, devoted to modern 

 bee-keeping in movable-coml) hives. 

 Being such a master and authority, it 

 was natural to expect that his apiary 

 would be worth visiting ; nor was I 

 disappointed, for here was really a 

 model apiary in every sense of the 

 word ; perfect order reigned every- 

 where, there was a place for every- 

 thing, and everything was in its place. 



We proceeded to examine some of 

 the colonies, and found them well 

 stocked with bees and remarkably 

 strong. 



M. Bertrand has a valuable and able 

 assistant in the person of M. C. Au- 

 berson, who is a schoolmaster at St. 

 Cergues. three-quarters of an hour's 

 walk above Allevays, who, in addition 

 to looking after his own bees, under- 

 took to assist M. Bertrand at a time 

 when they were stricken by foul brood, 

 and when constant supervision was 

 necessary to stamp out the disease, 

 M. Bertrand's residence being at too 

 great a distance from Allevays to give 

 the bees necessary attention. As the 

 snl)ject of foul brood was one of par- 



ticular interest to me, having some 

 years ago had to battle with this dis- 

 ease myself, and knowing that it was 

 only by perseverance and great care 

 that I ciured my bees of it, I was 

 anxious to know how Mr. Bertrand 

 had proceeded. When I cured my 

 bees, fumigation with salicylic acid 

 according to "Ililbert's" method was 

 not known, and it was much more 

 trouble than now. Experiments made 

 on foul- broody colonies during the last 

 two years, however, convinced me 

 that fumigation, if properly done, was 

 the simpler process. I was not satis- 

 fied with my way of fumigating, 

 therefore I was curious to see how M. 

 Bertrand proceeded. His method is so 

 simple, that for tlie benefit of those 

 whose bees have foul brood,I will give a 

 description of it, and in doing so will 

 give the French weights so that no 

 mistake should be made. M. Bertrand 

 told me that since the establishment 

 of the apiary, he had had foul brood 

 in some of liis hives, these at first he 

 burned, but being induced to try to 

 cure them, he persevered and never 

 allowed the disease to get to the worst 

 stage, when a cure would be more 

 ditiicult. The hives were constantly 

 examined, and if the slightest trace 

 of dead Virood was detected, they were 

 at once operated upon. Mostof thecol- 

 oniesin the apiary were now perfectly 

 healthy ; there was one, however, that 

 liad only recently been cured — it is the 

 one standing just behind the gentle- 

 man in the wide- awake hat in tlie en- 

 graving, and M. Bertrand and M. Au- 

 berson proceeded to operate upon this 

 one in my presence. For fumigating, 

 he has had constructed a lamp, which 

 is cylindrical in form, 6}^ inches in 

 diameter, and with an elbow at the 

 top, ending in an opening r> inches by 

 1,1;^ inches. The total height of lamp 

 with elbow being 11 inches. Inside 

 the cylinder is placed a spirit-lamp, 

 and above this is a small tin dish 

 about ■i}^ inches above the wick of 

 the lamp. The hive is not removed 

 from its stand, but is raised up at the 

 back oft' its floorboard by means of 

 blocks of wood, and wedges are in- 

 serted at the sides, so tliat all the 

 space is closed except enough to ad- 

 mit the nozzle of the fumigator. One 

 gramme of salicylic acid is placed in 

 the dish, and the flame regulated so 

 that the acid is gently evaporated. 



Too much flame would cause it to boil 

 over and waste, not enough would not 

 even melt it, so the right amount can 

 be found out by experiment. The 

 nozzle of the funiigator in operation 

 is now inserted in the opening at the 

 bottom, and the corners of the quilt 

 turned up so as to allow the vapor of 

 the acid to circulate freely. A few 

 minutes after the acid had all evap- 

 orated, tlie hive was examined and 

 the bees did not seem to be in the 

 least inconvenienced by the fumiga- 

 tion. M. Bertrand said tliat neitlier 

 brood nor worker bees were hurt, but 

 he was not sure whether or not the 

 queens suffered sometimes as he had 

 lost some. Ililbert says that each 

 hive should be fumigated every six 

 days, four fumigations being suffi- 

 cient ; but M. Bertrand has continued 

 longer, so as to be certain of a cure. 



