±iJ<j JtSElL KJt^tji liK;S' KK\ lEW. 



147 



was absolutely necessary for the purposes 

 already suggested. It was the result of this, 

 as I am now inclined to think, that the weak- 

 er colonies — and a few were decidely weak — 

 wintered as well as the stronger ones. 



Of course it must not be forgotten that, 

 in an effort to attain success in the winter- 

 ing of bees in a cellar, scarcely less impor- 

 tant than sound stores is the temperature 

 of tne cellar, and the weaker the colonies 

 and the moister the atmosphere, the high- 

 er is the temperature required to be to in- 

 sure success. Daring the last winter in my 

 cellar the temperature was maintained al- 

 most uniformily at \h^, running down a de- 

 gree or two during the coldest periods. For 

 a dellar so damp as that I now think 45° best. 

 For a very dry one 40" might do very well. 



Lapeee, Mich. April, 23, 1S%. 



The Use of Drugs in Treating Foul Brood — 

 A Little Talk on Overstocking. 



F. L. THOMPSON. 



T AM sorry to say 

 1 I cannot write 

 tlie article you ask 

 for, ( on curing 

 foul brood with 

 iysol ) as I have 

 not had the exf.er- 

 ience. I have not 

 fed lysoI,aiid have 

 never tried to cure 

 foul brood by 

 drugs. But I will 

 take this oppor- 

 tunity to make my ideas clear on that subject. 

 You say " Supposing the apiary is isolated, 

 would you use Iysol and expect a permanent 

 cure eventually ? " That is just the point. 

 As I said before, it seems ahmst impossiljle 

 to say anything in favor of drugs without 

 being supposed to favor them as cures. I 

 don't favor them as cures, but as preven- 

 tives. 



In the past I have cured foul brood with- 

 out drugs, always, whenever I knew it was 

 there, and used drugs on all colonies which 

 were apparently healthy. I am now doing 

 the same thing. Two years ago there were 

 two cases in this apiarj ; last year, none, 

 and this year, I mea ' 'Kf), two. I have used 

 a preventive for two years. Those cases I 

 attended to promptly, by sure methods, and 



used a drug on the remainder. I intend to 

 keep on doing the same thing, until it is 

 proved that drugs are valueless. It makes 

 no difference whether the apiary is in an iso- 

 lated or an infected region, I would cure by 

 quick and sure methods, every time. But I 

 would not think that my only business was 

 curing. In an infected region I would always 

 use drugs on all except diseased colonies, 

 and in an isolated region would use it at least 

 several years after the last case of the 

 disease. 



If I should ever use drugs in curing, it 

 would be merely as an experiment, to satis- 

 fy myself that they have virtue as preven- 

 tives. But that would hardly be necessary, 

 as the evidence is already strong on that 

 point. 



Now it seems to me that the burden of 

 proof is on the Jion-lysol-feeders, to show 

 that to feed Iysol as a preventive is a waste 

 of time. I know perfectly well Iysol can not 

 permanently cure, in a short time, except in 

 cases in which the honey which is the source 

 of the infection is of recent importation, 

 placed next the brood, so as to be all used 

 up before the feeding stops. But unless 

 one possesses extraordinary patience and 

 endurance, in going over each and every 

 hive a dozen times a year, I do not see how 

 he can exi)ect to discover and stamp out in- 

 cipient cases as drugs must surely do, for 

 they encounter a much earlier stage of the 

 disease than is possible for us to discover. 

 ( In this sense, indeed, they may cure. Un- 

 known to the bee-keeper, old infected honey 

 may be used up, and be either rendered in- 

 noxious, or its effects so quickly cured that 

 they will be gone before he sees them, by 

 using drugs at the same time. ) 



Does not the success of Iysol as a citj'e 

 abroad ( impractical though it may be to 

 suppose that it searches out old honey ) give 

 pretty positive evidence that when it is used 

 in advance of foul brood, the disease can 

 not establish itself ? Isn't that a saving of 

 labor? I don't understand at all why it 

 should bethought an evidence of prudence 

 not to use it on apparently healthy colonies, 

 instead of waiting until foul brood may be 

 seen, perhaps "several cases of a very ma- 

 lignant type. " 



I have been using carbolic acid, whenever 

 I had occasion to feed. I have added the 

 proper proportion ( 1 to /SOO ) and have not 

 had a case of foul brood in colonies so fed. 

 To get it to all the colonies, I have been fol- 



