AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



351 



in the season, and not in either the bees 

 or the flowers. 



In 1888 my apiary was in fine condi- 

 tion, but I did not get one pound of 

 honey, and everything blossomed well ; 

 but there was no honey in anything here 

 that season, and, what was still worse, 

 that Fall I had to feed $71 worth of 

 granulated sugar to my colonies to pro- 

 vide them with stores for Winter. My 

 section is a good . one for honey, and I 

 have been a bee-keeper since 1864, but 

 the season of 1888 was the only time I 

 ever knew the honey crop to fail. 



In 1888, when we had a blight almost 

 as bad as Mr. Koeppen had in 1890, I 

 cured every colony of foul-brood in an 

 apiary for Mr. James Marshall, of Bin- 

 brook, and I enclose a letter from him, 

 which explains all about it: 



This is to certify that in 1888, I had 40 colo- 

 nies of bees, more or less afflicted with foul- 

 brood, which was caused by using combs, the, 

 previous year, which I procured from a bee- 

 keeper who lost almost all his colonies from 

 that disease, of which fact I was ignorant. In 

 June I applied to Mr. McEvoy, and he removed 

 every comb from the diseased colonies, and 

 shook the bees back into the same hives, 

 giving- to each colony five clean, empty combs, 

 and ordered that these combs be extracted 

 each evening for four days, and on the fourth 

 evening to remove them and replace them 

 with another set, which I was to leave in the 

 hives, and extract from them twice. 



The brood was put into empty hives, which 

 were tiered up from two to four stories high, 

 and kept closed for three days. As soon as 

 most of the brood was hatched, I removed the 

 combs, shook the bees into a single hive, gave 

 them five clean, empty combs, and extracted 

 each evening for four days ; then, in the even- 

 ing, I took the bees which were hatched from 

 the foul-brood combs to the old stand, and put 

 them in with the old colonies, thus making all 

 the colonies strong. 



This was during the honey season, but the 

 honey crop was a failure here in 1888, and my 

 bees gathered scarcely more than enough 

 honey to feed them while they were being 

 cured, and in the Fall I was compelled to feed 

 them, in order that they might be prepared 

 for Winter, 



In 1889, 1 received 4,000 pounds of honey 

 from 35 colonies, having lost but 5 colonies 

 during the Winter and. Spring, and during the 

 Summer they increased to 65 colonies, which 

 I wintered without the loss of a single colony. 

 In June, 1890, 1 united the colonies, until the 

 number was reduced to 42, and from those 42 

 colonies I received 7,000 pounds of extracted- 

 honey, and they increased to 94 colonies. 



Had it not been for Mr. McEvoy, my apiary 

 would have been destroyed by foul-brood, but 

 I am pleased to say that by his method the 

 disease was eradicated, and now my apiary is 

 one of the best. As I have a farm which 

 demands my attention the greater portion of 

 the time, I tr.y to prevent increase. 



Binbrook, Ont. James A. Marshall. 



Mr. Marshall is well and favorably 

 known, and his word is considered as 

 good as his bond. 



The complete failure of honey in 

 everything left Mr. Koeppen's bees in 

 such a starving condition that they 



would not stay in the hives, when he 

 gave them starters or foundation, but 

 swarmed out so much that more or less 

 of the bees got mixed into every colony, 

 and that spread the disease with a 

 vengeance. 



In that time of blight, right in the 

 honey season, when Mr. Koeppen found 

 7 colonies of foul -brood, if he had given 

 each colony about five or six clean, 

 empty combs, and fed the bees freely 

 each evening for five nights, and ex- 

 tracted on the second and fourth even- 

 ings, then removed the combs the fifth 

 evening and given another set of clean, 

 empty combs ; fed in the evenings, and 

 extracted twice, as before, leaving in 

 the second set of combs, not one would 

 have swarmed out, and he would have 

 made a sure cure of them. 



If done in a time when the bees are 

 gathering honey, no feeding will be re- 

 quired, but the first set of combs must 

 be extracted in the evenings, and re- 

 moved on the fourth or fifth evening, to 

 be replaced by another set, which are to 

 remain and be extracted twice more. 



Some may ask, will that plan cure in 

 all cases ? I say, yes ; in every case, if 

 properly carried out. In curing foul- 

 brood everything depends on whether 

 the cure is to be made before, in, or 

 after, the honey season. If the cure is 

 to be made before the honey season, or 

 in a time of blight, remove the diseased 

 combs, and give clean, empty combs, and 

 and in the evenings feed sugar syrup and 

 extract. The fifth evening, remove the 

 combs and give another set of clean 

 combs, which are to remain, but must be 

 extracted twice, and then everything 

 will be all right. 



If done in the time of a honey flow, 

 remove the diseased combs and give 

 starters for four days, then remove the 

 starters and give foundation. 



In the Fall, if part of an apiary is 

 found diseased, if the owners will feed 

 the sound colonies until the bees seal the 

 combs, then, in the evening, remove the 

 combs from the diseased colonies, and 

 give them sealed combs from the sound 

 colonies, all will be right. 



The combs of brood removed from the 

 diseased colonies in the honey season, 

 should be put in empty hives, tiered up 

 two or more stories, and the entrance 

 kepts closed for two days. If the weather 

 is very warm, shade the hives, and when 

 the most of the brood is hatched, re- 

 move all the combs and shake the bees 

 into a single hive, and treat them ac- 

 cording to the season, by either using 

 two sets of clean combs and feeding, or, 

 if the bees are gathering honey, use 



