448 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



possess a power of resistance to heat in 

 the proportion of 11 to 6. Therefore, as 

 6 is to 11, so is 104^ to 19 1^, which is the 

 minimum death point of spores. We had 

 better stick a pin just here, because, 

 unless it can be shown that the spores 

 of foul-brood are more sensitive to heat 

 than any others hitherto examined, they 

 are certainly not killed by a temperature 

 lower than 19 1^^. 



It has been ascertained that the death 

 point of the most resistant fully-matured 

 microbe is 1400. Bearing in mind the 

 above ratio, the death point of the most 

 resistant spores is 257°. Pasteur found, 

 in practice, that this temperature was 

 required to kill spores in a dry state. 

 We may infer, then, that so far as in- 

 vestigations have gone, the range of 

 temperature for the death point of 

 spores is 66^ — that is to say, from 19 1^ 

 to 2570. 



Wax melts at a little lower than 145^. 

 When it is rendered in the solar wax ex- 

 tractor, it is probably not heated above 

 160O In sheeting it for foundation, 

 the wax is melted, and kept at a tem- 

 perature as near the congealing point as 

 possible. There is good reason for be- 

 lieving that foundation is sent out which 

 has never been heated up to 190o, much 

 less 2570. It is highly probable that such 

 foundation would contain live germs of 

 foul-brood, if made from the wax of 

 foul-brood combs. Since it is not known 

 that the death point of the germs is 

 lower than 2 5 70, and since it is certain 

 that no manufacturer heats the wax up to 

 this degree, it is possible that all founda- 

 tion made from infected wax may contain 

 live germs of foul-brood. 



In arriving at this conclusion, I have 

 considered what may be said in favor of 

 sterilizing the wax by the process of 

 rendering the combs in boiling water. 

 The advantages of Tyndal's method of 

 destroying obdurate germs by the pro- 

 cess of discontinuous boiling, will not 

 apply here, because that process requires 

 that at some point in the operation, the 

 germs shall be brought into contact with 

 the water, and become saturated with it. 

 Germs coated with wax could not meet 

 these requirements. 



Since, as has been shown, there is no 

 certainty that foul-brood germs are 

 killed by any temperature lower than 

 2570, and since this degree of heat can- 

 not convenie^itly be applied to wax — and 

 if it could, would probably injure it — 

 the question arises, how shall we avoid 

 the danger of starting the disease in our 

 hives, and continue to use foundation 

 purchased from others ? 



Fortunately, facts have been ascer- 

 tained with respect to killing the spores 

 of other microbes, which, I think, may 

 help us out in this case. It has been 

 ascertained that a long exposure to a 

 lower temperature produced the same 

 effect as an exposure to a higher tem- 

 perature for a shorter time. " For ex- 

 ample, speaking roughly, an exposure of 

 an hour and a half to a temperature of 

 2120 appeared to be equivalent to an 

 exposure of 15 minutes at 228o." 



What I would suggest is that the 

 manufacturers of foujidation place their 

 wax in a wooden tank within a tank, the 

 space between the two to be filled witli 

 water which shall be kept heated up to 

 2000 for several days, in order -o roast 

 to death any spores the wax may con- 

 tain. • 



A cubic foot of wax weighs about 60 

 pounds. A tank 3 feet wide, 4 feet deep, 

 and 6 feet in length, would hold 2 tons, 

 a quantity probably sufficient for a sin- 

 gle batch of foundation anywhere. Man- 

 ufacturers who use steam could adopt 

 this method without much trouble. The 

 expense of keeping up steam would be 

 the chief addition to the cost. 



That there is danger in the use of 

 foundation, such as is now placed on the 

 market, I firmly believe. That the 

 above method, if faithfully carried out, 

 will sterilize the wax, there can be little 

 doubt. Whether it is the only method, 

 or the best one, time will show. When 

 bee-keepers pay over their good, clean 

 cash, they should insist that the founda- 

 tion they receive shall not be the means 

 of starting disease in their apiaries. If 

 the danger were fully realized, and gen- 

 erally known, the manufacturers of foun- 

 dation would be obliged to adopt some 

 method for sterilizing their wax, which 

 would be infallible. 



Lindsay, Out. 



OMo Stale Bee-Keepers' ConTentlon. 



MISS DEMA BENNETT. 



SECOND DAY— FEB. 11. 



The first subject on the programme for 

 the day was "Queen-Rearing," by Dr. L. 

 G. Tinker, but as he was not present his 

 essay was read by W. Z. Hutchinson, 

 when a general discussion was had by 

 the members. 



J. B. Hains — I do not agree with the 



'essay about the second lot of cells. I 



think the second lot better than the first. 



W. Z. Hutchinson — I agree with Mr. 

 Hains. The second lot is better, the 



