102 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



less troublesome than other methods as burn- 

 ing is less troublesome than boiling the hives. 

 —Ed.] 



"St. Chables, Ills., 3-14, '94. 

 Fki'^nd Hasty: — Review came to-day. 

 Have seen your remarks on page 7G about 

 disinfecting foul-broody hives. The kero- 

 sene plan has been known on Fox river, 

 111., for several years aiid is a grand success. 

 It is way ahead of boiling in hot water and 

 far less trouble. Simply scrape the inside 

 of the hive until most of the bee-glue is re- 

 moved, then paint the same with kerosene. 

 Place inside a piece of burning paper and 

 let the kerosene burn off and you have a 

 clean box, thoroughly disinfected, and no 

 harm done to the outside, whether painted 

 or not. Don't let the fire burn so long as to 

 char the wood, but when slightly chared no 

 special harm is done as it can be scraped off. 

 One person can thus disinfect fifty hives in 

 a few hours. 



The fire can be quickly put out by laying 

 a board over the top or simply by turning 

 the hive over. Try one or more empty hives 

 and see how nicely the plan works. 



The first person I know of to discover and 

 p-it into practice the disinfecting of foul- 

 broody hives by the kerosene and burning 

 plan, was George Thompson, Geneva, Ills., 

 who lost his apiary twice by foul-brood. No 

 foul-brood has re-appeared in any hive thus 

 treated, and such hives have now been in use 

 in his apiary for several years. The plan is 

 so simple, non-expensive and effective, there 

 is now no excuse for using such hives not 

 disinfected. 



We do not fear foul-brood any longer in 

 "this neck of the woods." We think we 

 have found a very simple way to nd our 

 hives of foul-brood whenever it puts in an 

 appearance. We use no drugs nor do we 

 starve the bees, I tried the new plan in my 

 apiary last season on two colonies, the only 

 ones diseased, and found them 0. K. the l.'ith 

 of last November, the day they were taken to 

 the cellar, and if they prove to be free of the 

 disease this season I will then make the 

 method public. The simplicity of the plan 

 may surprise you. The diseasecf hive re- 

 mains in the apiarj but no robber bees can 

 enter therein. Every bee in tiie diseased 

 hive is saved and in due time finds herself 

 in another home. The work of the bees goes 

 right along, with no special loss to the own- 

 er, while the colony is being treated. 



There is one apiary on this (Fox) river 

 that has had the foul-brood disease in it 

 since 1881, and it is in as good condition to- 

 day as then. This apiary has been about as 

 profitable as any in Illinois during the past 

 twelve years. The owner each fall simply 

 destroys enough bees to keep the apiary 

 down to about eighty colonies. He picks out 

 all that he thinks may be diseased. He then 

 extracts the honey therefrom, melts up the 

 combs, and makes the wax into foundation, 

 and is then ready for the coming year. 

 Whether he disinfects the hives or not I can 

 not say. 



The March Review is a splendid number. 

 I always read the Review all the way through. 

 Very truly yours, 



M. M. Baldkidge." 



Superiority of Given Foundation. — Needed 

 Improvements in the Press. 



K. H. HOLMES. 



T7RIEND HUTCHINSON:— In reply to 

 J3 your request to write an article giving 

 my views on the subject of foundation, I will 

 say that writing for publication is entirely 

 out of my line, but I have been q . ite a little 

 interested in the late discussions on the sub- 

 ject in the different bee journals, and especi- 

 ally so in the report of R. L. Taylor's ex- 

 perimental work. 



I have made and used the Given founda- 

 tion for the past ten years ; and while I pre- 

 fer it to any other make, perhaps it would 

 be only fair to say that my experience with 

 other ki ds has been limited. However, I 

 have used it both heavy and light in the 

 management of from 100 to 300 oo.onies each 

 season for ten years and have supplied 

 some of the neighboring bee-keepers for a 

 good portion of the time. My make is lim- 

 ited to a few hundred pounds per season and 

 I have made no effort to extend the sale for 

 the reason that my foundation room is con- 

 fined to the house kitchen, and this of course 

 limits my capacity for manufacture and also 

 for experimenting in the manufacture of 

 wax. 



I have had bee-keepers try the Given foun- 

 dation for a single season and find no ad- 

 vantage over that usually made on a roller 

 mill. There are others, like myself, who 

 liave tried the Given with other kinds and 



