STATE BEE-KEEPERS* ASSOCIATION. . 21 



as throueh a deep cushion of some kind over the bees that will 

 absorb moisture and at the same time retain the heat, or by 

 some means of ventilation, so that all is dry and comfortable. 

 If mold forms on, the combs or cellar so damp as to form 

 mold, there is gre^t danger the bees will have dysentery and 

 die. \ 



TREATMENT. 



1. First of alj, have an abundance of combs of sealed 

 clover or basswo(xi honey in brood-frames carefully^ saved, 

 and see that each colony is wintered on such food. Three 

 or four such combs will winter a fair colony safely if con- 

 fined on those combs late in the fall and the hive contracted 

 to fit the same. This is one of the most important conditions 

 for success in wintering. 



2. If in the fall the bees have gathered this unwhole- 

 some honey from the above-named sources, it should all be 

 extracted and either exchanged for those honey-combs, or 

 feed the bees good honey or sugar syrup until winter stores 

 are secured. This should be done before cold weather in the 

 fall. 



3. Hives contracted and made comfortable, whether in 

 cellar or outdoors. 



4. If wintered in chaff hives outdoors with feed as above 

 directed, and there come one or two warm spells during win- 

 ter so that bees can have a cleansing flight, they will not 

 have dysentery or dead brood, and will be much stronger 

 when clover opens. 



If wintered in the cellar the bees will not need as much 

 honey, and- if the winters are generally long with doubtful 

 warm spells, the cellar will be best. But to keep the bees 

 from dysentery, so often fatal to cellar-wintered bees, they 

 should have such winter stores as above spoken of, then the 

 cellar kept at a uniform temperature, about 42 deg. F., ven- 

 tilated so the air is fresh, and no mold will form in the 

 cellar. Fresh air-slacked lime on the bottom of the cellar 

 may help if it is damp or has poor air. , 



5.. Dysentery will not appear if bees a«^e kept on sugar 

 syrup, or best-grade white clover or basswood honey, and are 

 in a dry place, either sheltered by cellar or chaff-hive. 



FORMALDEHYDE EXPERIMENTS. 



Formaldehyde, by the medical experts, is now considered 

 the best of all disinfectants ; I have great faith that we may 

 yet learn its use, and save infected foul-broody combs. 



Mr. C. H. W. Weber has conducted some valuable experi- 

 ments. !^rly in 1903 I decided to do some experimenting, 

 having inspected several infected apiaries. We got a carpen- 

 ter with well-seasoned lumber to make some perfectly air- 

 tight boxes to hold brood-frames, two tiers deep, as per the 

 photograph herewith. Mr. Weber's lamp was used in several 

 trials. Where we used a greater amount, and longer confined 

 than instructions caled for, the combs with all cells unsealed. 



